Repentance
by xImmortality09x
Summary: DeiSaku. Sakura's heart has nearly frozen over with the passing years. Naruto brings Sasuke back in hopes of seeing that fire in her eyes again, but nothing seems to warm her heart... That is, except the blonde Akatsuki that was recently captured...
1. And So It Begins

Okay peoples! This is my first fanfic! (o-.-)0(x.-) Flames are very welcome and I would love reviews! I'm real excited! And I need to stop it with the exclimation points... Anyways, on to the disclaimer! ...damn another exclimation...

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters in any way, shape, or form. If I did I wouldn't have cried for four weeks straight when Deidara died, because, _I wouldn't have killed him!_**

Okay story time!

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Repentance

Chapter 1: And So It Begins...

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"Tobi knows!" The dark-haired man yelled, "But Tobi won't tell you, because Tobi is a good boy!"

"Shut up Tobi!" His blonde partner snapped hitting Tobi over the head.

The pink haired medic-nin stood before the quarrelling Akatsuki members twitching ever so slightly at their antics.

_How did I get stuck with this job again?_

**Because we were the one to catch the idiots, **Her inner self replied snickering at her outer's misfortune, while thoroughly enjoying the scene in front of her.

Sakura sighed as her attention was once more brought to the two Akatsuki before her in the interrogation room. Tobi was ranting about Kami-knows what, and Deidara was twitching next to him, resisting the urge to beat his partner to a bloody pulp.

"Now, you have about five more minutes of 'good cop' before I beat you both within an inch of your life," Sakura said with a sickly sweet smile, "so I suggest Tobi shuts up unless he's going to say something useful."

The two looked at her sweet expression warily, disturbed by the words that went with it.

"Tobi will stop talking, because Tobi is a good boy!" The dark-haired man said cheerily as he sat Indian style on the floor.

Sakura let out another long sigh and put up her smile again, turning to the blonde Akatsuki, who looked at her with a small smirk gracing his features.

"Now, are you going to tell me the location of the Akatsuki base?" She asked sweetly. She was rewarded with a smirk as Deidara answered simply.

"No, yeah," He said as sweetly as Sakura had spoken.

Sakura regarded him with a questioning, amused, look.

"Would that be a yes, or a no, _yeah,_" she mocked, her eyes flashing with the sudden amusement she had created for herself.

"That's a no," He said annoyed, "or do you not comprehend that, yeah?"

Sakura's brow furrowed at the challenge.

"No, I just couldn't figure out what you said with that _speech impediment _you have there." She said without loosing the sickly sweet sound in her voice.

"It's not a speech impediment! It's a habit, yeah!" He said angrily, "But that is beside the point, I thought you were going to 'beat me within an inch of my life,' yeah."

"Yes I did say that, but I don't recall saying _yeah_ at the end of it."

"Shut up, yeah." He said rubbing his temples.

"I also don't recall when _you_ came into the authority to tell _me _to shut up." She retorted.

"When you started talking, yeah," he bit back angrily, but immediately regretted his decision to do so.

Sakura was quickly forming hand seals and focusing her chakra to her hand as she outstretched it and touched his forehead. He felt the foreign chakra move into him and fought it as best he could in his chakra-suppressed state. He was unsuccessful and her chakra overcame his.

"What'd you do, yeah?!" He protested shoving her hand away. The contact with her hand was now enough to make him gasp in pain.

"I rearranged your nerves," she said evenly, "now the slightest touch will send the message to your brain that you are in pain and you will react as such."

Deidara glared at her with a scowl plastered on his face.

"You're still not getting anything out of me, yeah!" He said defiantly.

She smirked in response and knelt in front of him bringing her hand up to caress his face. He clenched his teeth together at the pain the gentle touch brought him.

"Really, now?" She said looking as innocent as possible as she continued to stroke his cheek, "Are you sure that no matter what I do, you will still say nothing?"

"Tobi believes Deidara-senpai can do it!" His partner cheered, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Hm?" Sakura looked over at the other Akatsuki member that still sat beside his partner. His mask was removed his left eye was covered with bandages and the other was a deep black orb (I don't care that he's Madara! I'm going with the Obito story!), "And how do you think you would hold up against this? Would you like to find out?"

"Tobi would rather be a good boy and stop talking," He said quietly.

She smiled sweetly at him and returned her attention to the blonde. She scraped her finger-nails over his cheek eliciting a small gasp of pain from him. Sakura plastered a sadistic smile on her face as she dug her nails into his skin ever so slightly. He involuntarily let out a cry of pain. He glared up into her eyes as she sadistically caressed the marks she had made on his face (OMG sadistic Sakura?! I'll explain later…).

"Now, might there be something you wish to say?" She said, the sweetness returning to her face.

"No," He said defiantly.

His answer apparently didn't please his torturer. He features twisted into a scowl as her hand snaked around his neck pulling up off of the ground and shoving him against the wall. He cried out in the intense pain brought to him from the impact against the wall and the grip on his neck.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me properly," she hissed, "Where is the Akatsuki base?!"

He bit back his pain as best he could while he gasped for breath. The sadistic kunoichi holding him against the wall scowled warningly as she waited for his answer. Unfortunately, he believed he had nothing to lose from being defiant.

"The hell…" He choked slightly on his words as she tightened her grip, "Made you think I would tell you, yeah?!"

Her scowl turned into a malicious grin as she pulled him away from the wall and shot him across the room. His back cracked against the wall and the metallic taste formed in his mouth. He slid to the ground slowly, a trail of blood following him.

The pink-haired kunoichi smiled in satisfaction as she made her way to the door.

"I hope your tongue dulls by the time I come back tomorrow, if it's still as sharp, I might just have to cut it out." she warned as she vanished through the door.

"Tobi was worried!" The dark-haired man burst up yelling as he ran to his partner's side, "Is senpai okay?! Deidara-senpai! Speak to Tobi!"

"Shut up, Tobi…" He hissed before lapsing into unconsciousness.

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Yay! Okay don't worry, next chapter will explain Sakura's... sadistic side. Oh and I 3 Tobi! R&R! (please someone tell me what that means... I just see everyone put it at the end of their stories...)


	2. A Cold Heart

Reviews make me oh so happy! I'm glad you all like it! I was really surprised that within an hour after I posted it, I had reviews. I started working on this chapter right away. This is the eplination of how Sakura got so cold. And now for the the disclaimer!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in any way, shape, or form! So don't sue me!**

Yay! Onto the story!

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Repentance

Chapter II: A Cold Heart

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The pink-haired kunoichi drew a fake smile on her face as she went to meet her friends and teammates for ramen at Ichiraku. It had become a regular activity for the Konoha twelve; they would meet and chat about missions, catch up on gossip, and just hang out. Sakura would offer a smile or a laugh here or there, but would mostly just stay so they know she's actually alive.

Sakura had become somewhat cold and distant over the past years. As she rose in the ranks as a shinobi, she became more and more reclusive and cut off from the world. Her life became routine; work at the hospital, go on missions three times a week, throw in some assassinations, and train.

Everyone was worried about this new girl that had taken over their old friend. What disturbed them most was that she trained under Minoru Ibiki in torture and interrogation.

They didn't, however, know of her current predicament with the two Akatsuki members. She had apprehended them on her own and therefore she and the Hokage were the only ones to know they were in the village. Security was doubled to help ward off any rescue attempts from the Akatsuki. The sudden increase in guard around the village was alarming, but no one dared question it.

The lights shining from Ichiraku brought her from her musings to the friends that awaited her inside the little ramen shop. As she walked in everyone immediately turned their attention to her with bright smiles, two smirks, and one fox-like grin.

"Sakura-chan!" Her blonde teammate yelled, "Come on and eat all you'd like! It's on Sasuke-teme tonight!"

She smiled her fake smile and looked over at her other teammate for a few seconds. Sasuke, it seemed, was still Sasuke. He picked up right where he left off when he left. He was still on probation, but since he killed Orochimaru, coupled with being one of the two (Three!) Uchiha's left alive, that was his only punishment.

The probation meant: No outside missions, no solo missions, for the first month he will be watched by ANBU at all times, he must have his team leader with him while he trained, and for the first two weeks he could not live alone. Naruto stayed with him…

Sakura walked over and joined her friends. They didn't expect her to talk much, she never really did. The only one who was surprised by her behavior was Sasuke; it's only his second day back and they only saw each other once on the first day.

"Sakura…" He began, drawing everyone's eyes to him, including her surprised gaze traveled to the Uchiha, "How… have you been?"

Everyone held their breath at this. That was the question everyone was afraid to ask her, because they knew the answer.

Sasuke kept his eyes on her as she debated on what to tell her comrade.

**Tell him off!**

_As much as I'd love to do just that, I want to remain calm._

**Screw calm! KILL HIM!!!**

Sakura let out an audible sigh as everyone awaited her response.

"Sasuke-_san_," She began, making sure everyone knew she didn't call him "Sasuke-kun", the venom in her voice was noticeable, but she maintained her façade, "I have been fine."

To say Sasuke was shocked by her short answer would have been an understatement, and he made to point to hide it.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He pried.

Her eyes met his fiercely, and it was then he noticed how cold they had become.

"Nothing is _wrong_." She said sarcastically, "Everything is just fucking _perfect_!"

This was the most she'd said in a long time and everyone was scared, to say the least, by the murderous intent in her eyes and words.

"Sasuke, do you have any idea how long you clung to me after you left?! I cared about you and you left! For three years I killed myself over you! For three years I tore myself to pieces trying to get you back! For three years, the fact that I was to _weak _to stop you ran through my head!" She yelled, "Then it vanished! You disappeared from my mind as I began to prove myself strong! I finally _forgot_! I was finally _over you_!

"But _now,_ a year after I got over you, you had to come waltzing back here as if you never _betrayed_ your _friends_. I'm supposed to accept that and move on?!" She continued, her anger building up. Her control was slipping and a spike in the chakra she usually suppressed elicited a gasp from everyone. They knew that she was strong, just not exactly _how _strong, "Well sorry _Sasuke_, but you've already lost my trust, friendship, and love. Good luck trying to get it back!"

She finished by storming out of the restaurant full-on murder mode. People moved out of the First ANBU Captain's way as she strode past, anger rolling off her in waves.

_**See**_**, I told you that would work**

_Yeah, sure, having all my friends finally scared shitless of me 'works'_

**I don't care, as long as Sasuke knows his place…**

As Sakura cooled down and made her way to her house, her friends back at Ichiraku all looked down guiltily.

"How could she have changed so much…?" Sasuke asked in a barely audible voice.

"It's just as she said, it was you," Shikamaru said shooting a glare at the Uchiha, "In order to finally be able to let go of you, she had to let go of everything. She not only stopped caring about you, but about everything. She focused only on her training, only getting stronger. And, hell, get stronger she did. She rose through the ranks quickly and was the first of us to make Jounin, and then ANBU."

"ANBU?!" Sasuke said shocked, "Sakura?!"

"Hai," Sakura's blonde rival/best friend said, "She surpassed Tsunade-sama and took a break from missions a while to learn from…" she gulped before she continued, "Minoru Ibiki, on torture and interrogation."

Sasuke slowly processed what was being said to him as the Hyuuga heiress now spoke.

"S-she was s-sent on a l-lot of 'information gathering' missions after that." The girl shuddered. Unable to continue she turned to her cousin for help.

"Sakura-san kept growing colder and more distant. That's when we started meeting like this… mostly just so we know she's actually still alive. She became an ANBU captain, and soon after, she was promoted to First ANBU Captain."

"First ANBU Captain?! That's impossible!" Sasuke protested, but Kakashi continued to tell of Sakura's achievements.

"Sakura-chan is now, also, the head of the interrogation squad, and has eliminated three Akatsuki members; Sasori, Zetsu, and another that was new to the organization, Arashi. She goes on plenty of solo assassination missions as well as working with her squad." The silver-haired jounin said.

"B-but how?! God damn it! How could she get so strong, while I stayed so weak?!" Sasuke said more to himself than anyone else, "Damn it all! She was the weakest! We were always protecting her! How could she have done all that?! It makes no sense!"

"It makes perfect sense," Kakashi said, "She always had the potential, but we were too focused on our own strength and goals to notice it. If we had seen it before, maybe she wouldn't have become what she is now."

Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration as he left the shop heading for the Uchiha estate, where he had taken up residence, so he can rest enough for a long day of training in the morning.

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Yay, another chapter done! I'll work on the next one right away! Oh and by the way, this is right after Sasuke kills Orochimaru, with some twists to the story here and there. R&R (still don't know what that means, but whatever!)


	3. Flashback

Lookie! New chapter! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I'll be writing as much as possible!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor will I most likely ever.**

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Repentance

Chapter III: Flashback

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The blonde Akatsuki woke to find himself back in the holding cell he and his partner occupied. He moved slightly only to find that the effects of the kunoichi's jutsu were still in effect.

"Deidara-senpai!" Tobi yelled upon seeing his friend awaken, "Tobi was so worried about senpai! Is senpai okay? Is senpai hurt? Senpai, why are you so quiet? Senpai would have usually told Tobi to shut up by now. _Oh Kami! _You lost your voice! Oh no, now you'll never talk ag-ack!"

Tobi stopped talking as his blonde friend whacked him in the back of the head. Hard.

"_Shut up_, Tobi, yeah!" He yelled at his partner.

"Oh yay! Tobi was worried senpai'd never speak again! Ne, is senpai okay?" Tobi said but then became silent under his 'senpai's' furious glare.

"That little kunoichi is gonna pay," He whispered venomously.

_Flashback_

"_Tobi!" The blonde yelled to his partner, "Shut up will ya, yeah?! We're on a mission here!"_

"_But Deidara-senpai!" The dark-haired one whined, "Tobi is a good boy, he wouldn't do anything to endanger the mission!"_

"_Shut up, Tobi," The blonde sighed, "Just shut up."_

_They closed in on their target, readying for a fight. They had been given a mission to assassinate a Daimyo, in a region bordering the Land of Fire. He was traveling to meet with a neighbor for arranging a marriage between his son and the neighbor's daughter. They had to stop this alliance, by killing the Daimyo and making his county believe it was their neighbors. _

_Their target was currently resting in a village on the boarder between the two countries. A feast was thrown in honor of their visit and the wedding that would take place between their Daimyo's daughter and their neighboring Daimyo's son. _

"_Ready Tobi?" He asked his partner as they came to the building the party was held in. After receiving an enthusiastic nod he brought his hands together to perform a henge. _

"_Henge no Jutsu," they whisper simultaneously._

_A brown-haired man stood in Tobi's place. His hair was still its messy, spiky mass. There was, obviously, no mask, and he had dark brown eyes. _

_Deidara took on the appearance of a raven-haired man. His hair was still long, but his topknot was gone, and it cascaded down his shoulders and back. His eyes had turned a haunting hazel color. He was dressed in an elegant red kimono. _

_They stepped out of the shadows and headed towards the door. The usher was about to stop them when Tobi looked over at him and he was caught in a genjutsu. The usher stopped dead and just stared blankly in front of him. _

_The pair walked into the beautifully decorated room and their eyes scanned the place for any suspicious movement that could be hired shinobi guards. When they were satisfied that there was nothing suspicious, they split up and acted as if they belonged. Deidara's eyes fell upon the Daimyo and his daughters. There were two of his daughters with him; the one to be married, and her younger sister._

_The Daimyo himself was calm and chatting happily with whoever spoke to him, while his daughters sat quietly on either side of him. The elder of the two hardly made eye contact with anyone and politely refused all offers to dance. The younger however was different. Her eyes flicked across the room, scanning every corner. Her posture was stiff and upright. She was tense and had a cold look in her eyes. She didn't hold herself like a Daimyo's daughter, but like a shinobi._

_His eyes narrowed as he looked at her and he focused, trying to feel for her chakra. He felt a small sliver, and realized she was very good at concealing it. Their eyes met and they both immediately warmed their looks. The coldness was replaced by a cheery façade as she smiled at him cutely. _

_Before he knew what had happened, he was against the wall out of sight from the party goers with a kunai at his neck. _

"_Deidara: missing-nin of Iwagakure. Current affiliations: Akatsuki. Specialty: Explosives, uses clay with his Kekkei Genkai to allow it to explode. Appearance: Long blonde hair, usually in a topknot, and covering the left side of his face, where a scope rests over his left eye. He has blue eyes and stands at 6 feet in height." She whispered harshly in his ear, he was surprised she knew this much about him, but he didn't show it, "Previous partner: Sasori, the puppet master. Current Partner: Tobi, not much is known about him, and very few know his appearance. The only reason I know is because I happened to run into him tonight, I believe he's tied up in the alley behind this house right about now. So what'll it be Deidara-san? Resist and I will not hesitate to kill you."_

"_Well aren't you the clever one, yeah?" Deidara said with amusement, "But in all of your research you've seem to have forgotten something."_

"_Oh, and what would that be Deidara-san?" Sakura said; confident that she had him trapped._

"_Art is a bang, yeah." He said grinning while moving one of his hands into a hand sign, "Katsu!"_

"_Kuso!" She cursed as she sprinted back to the party to save the Daimyo and his daughter from the explosions that started flashing around the building. She did a series of hand signs and placed her hands on the ground. A chakra barrier shot up around the Daimyo and his guests as the building collapsed around them. _

"_Okay, so you're good, yeah." A voice said as a figure appeared on the other side of the barrier._

_Sakura's henge disappeared as she focused her chakra on maintaining the barrier. Her pink locks framed her face and her emerald eyes pierced through Deidara as she met his gaze. _

"_You!" He said, a scowl adorning his face, "You're that girl who killed Sasori-danna (sp?), yeah."_

_A smirk made its way to her face as she glared back at him._

"_Haruno Sakura, to Gondaime's apprentice, rumored to have surpassed her even; First ANBU Captain. I've been reading up on you since you killed Sasori-danna. You were trained by the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, as well." Deidara said, "And now, I'll finally get my revenge, yeah."_

"_I'd like to see you try, __**yeah**__." A voice whispered sweetly in his ear. _

_He spun around just in time to catch a punch aimed for his head. He reached down to his clay pouch and began molding a bird as they exchanged quick hits. When he finished, he jumped back quickly and performed a jutsu on his creation and it grew large enough for him to get on and take flight._

_As he rose to the sky he noticed the barrier had dissipated and the Daimyo was nowhere to be seen._

_**So she was distracting me while they got away so we can have a full out fight without hurting anyone. She's too kind. **_

_Sakura slammed her fist into the ground making a rock jut out. She lifted the rock and threw it up in the air. She jumped up to meet it while pulling her leg back and shattering the boulder. All the pieces of rock shot through the air directly at Deidara. One piece ripped off the wing of his mount and he shot to the ground. The bird collapsed and he jumped off behind it. Backing away a safe distance he gave the command for the bird to explode. Sakura was caught in the explosion and Deidara smirked at his victory._

_As the smoke cleared, there was no kunoichi to be seen. Deidara spun around trying to find her but he realized too late that she was right beneath him. The ground split as Sakura came out with a fist raised. She hit Deidara in the jaw and as soon as she regained her balance, she pinned him to the ground hitting a pressure point on his neck._

_End Flashback_

_Damn that girl for shaming me like that. Damn her to hell!_ Deidara scowled inwardly as the image of an innocent little pink haired girl surfaced in his mind.

"Is senpai okay?" Tobi said looking at Deidara's furious features.

"Shut up Tobi…" He said leaning back against the wall.

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Yay! Okay, so I'm not very good at fight scenes, but it was better than just saying they fought and she won. Ah well... R&R! 


	4. What Are You?

Yay, thanks for the reviews! Okay some DeiSaku at the end here!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor wish to be sued. **

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Repentance

Chapter IV: What Are You?

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Sakura walked down the familiar halls of the interrogation unit. She walked past each room down to interrogation chamber 13. She came to the room and heard the bickering of the two Akatsuki members even through the door. She silently laughed at their ridiculous antics. If anything, they were at least entertaining.

She pushed open the door to see Tobi chattering away completely oblivious to the twitching of his blonde teammate. The man watching over them was resisting every urge to laugh outright at the two.

Sakura smiled at the man who got up and left her with the pair. For a minute they didn't even notice her as she looked at them in amusement. She let out a small laugh as Tobi decided play with Deidara's hair, tugging out the tie that held it up.

Owner of said hair tie began to strangle the one who pulled it out.

"Alright, calm down, don't kill each other," Sakura said laughing.

"Oh, would you rather do it, yeah?" Deidara said glaring at her angrily.

"Aw, now that's mean," She pouted, "What on earth made you think I would do such a thing?"

"Oh, I don't know, for sadistic pleasure I suppose, yeah?" Deidara bit back.

She chuckled evilly.

"Nah, I get that from torture, not killing," She said smiling sweetly.

"You are one crazy bitch, yeah," Deidara said raising an eyebrow at her.

"Crazy like a fox!" Sakura said laughing again.

She stopped herself as soon as she realized what was happening. She was smiling and laughing. She was genuinely laughing at this criminal before her. Her features twisted into a scowl and she appeared in front of Deidara taking him by the neck and shoving him against the wall.

He was surprised by her mood swing, to say the least, and flinched as she spoke with venomous words.

"Now, shall we pick up where we left off yesterday?"

Tobi cowered in the corner, as far away from the insane kunoichi as possible.

_Meanwhile at the bridge_

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined as he and Sasuke waited at the bridge for their teammate and ex-sensei.

"How should I know, dobe?" Sasuke replied flatly.

"Yo!"

The team's lazy, perverted ex-sensei appeared on the bridge in a puff of smoke.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled.

"Yes, you see, a black cat cross-"

"_Liar!_" The blonde yelled before Kakashi could finish.

"Yes, well, anyways, let's get to training shall we?" Kakashi said.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled again, "Where's Sakura-chan?!"

Sasuke decided to start listening and looked at the silver-haired jounin as eager as Naruto for an answer. Kakashi's eyes darkened visibly.

"She's at the Interrogation section at the Southern prison, dealing with a prisoner." He said quietly.

"That's it!" Naruto yelled, "I'm going to go get Sakura-chan and then we're going to get Tsunade-baa-chan to give her a vacation."

"Naruto, it's not that easy," Kakashi said.

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled on the verge of tears, "I won't lose her! She's become just like… like… _Sasuke_!"

Sasuke just "hn"ed, though it sounded a little more depressing than usual.

"Naruto, this is the way she's chosen to live," Kakashi said, "We can't stop her."

"No!" The blonde yelled in fury, "We thought that about teme too, but we got him back! Now we have to bring back Sakura!"

Without waiting for a response he sprinted off to the south side of town.

He burst through the doors, immediately going to the first guard he saw, demanding where Sakura was.

"S-she's at int-terrogation chamber 13," He said nervously as Naruto's eyes flashed red for a moment.

Naruto ran down the halls as quickly as possible and without even knocking, he pushed open the door to the interrogation room. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped at the sight before him.

Sitting Indian style in the corner was a man with spikey black hair and bandages over his left eye. In the other was the sight that made his jaw drop. There was blood splattered across the floor and wall, and coating _her_ face. The blonde man she was currently threatening turned his head to see the jinchuriki in the doorway. She held him pinned against the wall by the neck.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Naruto breathed, his voice filled with hurt.

Sakura dropped Deidara to the ground and turned to face her teammate with shock. Shock turned swiftly to anger.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. Naruto just looked on with shock. She knew she'd gotten cold, but he'd never heard such murderous intent in her voice.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Naruto choked on his tears, "W-what are you?"

"Busy, that's what I am," Sakura said in a chilling voice, she turned to Deidara briefly flashing him one of her sickly sweet smiles and placed her fingers under his chin, forcing him to face her, "This will only take a minute, Dei-kun."

"Don't rush on my account, yeah," he mumbled as he stood shakily leaning on the wall for support. He wiped some blood from his lip as Sakura turned back to Naruto.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Sasu-"

_**Slap!**_

Sakura stared at Naruto in shock as her cheek began to redden.

"Sakura-chan, what happened to you?" He said through tears, "You know what? Don't tell me, because I know. This is all Sasuke-teme's fault. He broke all our hearts Sakura-chan. I thought bringing him back would make you happy, but I guess I was wrong…"

"Naruto," She started, "You don't understand… All those years of being the weak one… Always watching your backs as you walked away."

"Sakura-chan, you're not weak, you're stronger than all of us." Naruto said.

"Because of what I am, Naruto," Sakura said, "Because I let go, not just of Sasuke, but of everything. Because I distanced myself, because I trained day in and day out, because I stopped caring about anything else, _that_, Naruto, is why I am strong."

"Sakura, you're talking just like Sasuke-teme," Naruto said. Sakura's head shot up like she was just insulted in the worst possible way, "Don't be like him Sakura!"

Sakura no longer cared that there were others in the room, or that Naruto was the closest thing to a friend she had right now.

"How _dare_ you compare me to that bastard!" Sakura yelled, shaking in anger. She finally snapped.

In the blink of an eye Naruto was pinned against the wall. Sakura's eyes bored into his as he regarded her with an impassive expression.

"Sakura, why don't you take a good long look in the mirror," Naruto said pushing her away, "then you'll see why I compared you to him."

With that Naruto left the room meeting Kakashi and Sasuke in the hall. He walked passed them silently and they followed him out, understanding what he must have seen.

Sakura still stood there facing the wall. Deidara stood leaning against the wall, taking in everything he just heard.

Sakura collapsed forward against the wall, turning around and sliding slowly to the ground. She brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and tears silently slid down her face. She buried her face against her knees as she continued her silent crying.

She felt an arm drape itself across her shoulders. She didn't move, she didn't care who the hell it was, she just knew that it was comforting. She leaned against the man holding her, burying her face in his chest as tears fell down her face. Her arm went around him as he gently stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

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Another chapter done! Some DeiSaku at the end there! Ah, the unconcious need to comfort her, not knowing why, just knowing its something he has to do. R&R!


	5. Don't Know Why

Okay, important, for later in thise chapter **don't kill me!** I wanted to put Genma in the story, 'cause he's just awesome like that. But I swear I'm not turning this into GenSaku! They are going to be _friends. _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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Repentance

Chapter V: Don't Know Why

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He didn't know why he walked over to her; he didn't know why he held her. He just knew that it felt right to comfort her like this. Her tears stained his shirt, but he didn't care. His blood stained her face, but he didn't care. She caused him pain, but he didn't care. And he had no idea why.

She obviously didn't know nor care that the one who held her happened to and S-Class criminal and member of the Akatsuki. She was half asleep in his arms and unconsciously buried her head in his chest, looking desperately for warmth and comfort. He responded by tightening his grip around her.

She froze.

She pulled back quickly and moved across the room, away from Deidara. She finally realized what she'd just done.

A scowl was placed firmly on her face as she cursed herself for being so weak. After all this, her emotions still got in the way.

Deidara looked up at her sadly, almost pleadingly, effectively confusing her further.

"A-ahem," Sakura coughed nervously as she hid her blush with a passive face, "You'll be escorted back to your cell, but we're finally able to move Tobi to the Northern prison. Ibiki will be taking my place in interrogating him."

She glanced briefly at the now hysteric man in the corner.

"But Tobi doesn't want to go!" He pleaded, "Tobi wants to stay with senpai! Tobi likes Sakura-sempai!"

"Sorry, but Tobi has to be separated from Deidara," she said to him smiling slightly, trying to forget what had just happened. With Tobi in the room, it was easy.

"Noooooooooo!" Tobi yelled while hugging Deidara, whose eyes still rested on Sakura with that look.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Deidara," she said unable to stop blushing as she pictured him holding her, "When the guards come they'll take you separately, so say your good byes."

She left the room, still hearing Tobi's cries and Deidara cursing at his partner. She sighed as she stood there in front of the door, and after she heard one last yell she left.

"_Shut up, Tobi!_" She heard, followed instantly by a childish scream.

Back with Team Seven

Naruto sat gloomily on the railing of the red bridge. He refused to budge until Sakura came back. Sasuke and Kakashi were having a taijutsu match in the area next to the little red bridge.

He let out a long sigh as he turned to look down the road, hoping to see his pink haired friend. He didn't exactly expect to see her walking towards him, so when he did, he rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times.

Her face looked cold, but she put on a small smile as she looked up at him. She reached him and he looked at her eyes more closely to see sadness, pain, and lastly, confusion.

"Naruto-kun…" She started, trying to smile as she added the affectionate suffix, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see that, and I'm sorry I spoke to you like that. You're right."

"N-no! Sakura-chan, I didn't mean it, you're nothing like Sasuke-teme!" Naruto said quickly, seeing the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Yes, you did," she said smiling sweetly, but he knew better, he knew it was fake, "And you were right. I'm sorry."

At that she embraced him tightly.

"Sakura-chan, please stop it," Naruto said, "You're just trying to make me feel better. Tomorrow, you're going to go back to that prison and do the same thing you do every day. You're going to keep going on those assassination missions, and you're going to stay the same, aren't you?"

"N-Naruto-kun…" Sakura and the ground that suddenly became very interesting. The painful thing was, he was right. She couldn't just end this life she's created for herself. Saying sorry wasn't going to cut it, "Gomen…"

_I'm such a hypocrite…_

With that she ran down the street as Sasuke and Kakashi came back beaten and bloodied.

"She's gone, we've lost her," Naruto said quietly, "But what's lost can always be found."

Sakura ran to the closest comfort she could find. A bar.

Taking a deep breath she walked inside. She could feel men's eyes on her as she walked up to the bar.

"Something strong." Sakura said to the bartender. He raised an eyebrow at her, but being met by her cold gaze he complied.

She heard a light chuckle from behind her, but didn't turn around.

"Aren't you a little young to come waltzing into a bar demanding 'something strong,'" The man said as he came to sit on the stool next to her.

"A Shinobi's life is always on the line, I'm not going to die one day without ever having a drink before," Sakura said as the bartender came back with some alcoholic beverage.

"_Carpe Diem, _seize the day," The man with shoulder length brown hair said, "That's what I always say! I'll have what this beautiful lady here is having."

He turned to the bartender for a brief second, and then returned his gaze to Sakura instantly. She still didn't look up at the man next to her, despite blushing a little at the 'beautiful' comment. It was to be expected from her current drinking partner.

The bartender brought him his drink and he held it over to her. Taking the hint Sakura lifted her glass and turned to face him. He was smirking slightly and held between his teeth was that ever-present senbon.

"_Carpe Diem_," Sakura said as their glasses clanked together.

"_Carpe Diem_," Genma repeated with a grin.

They both drank together until the glasses were empty and ordered some more.

"So, what's eating you today, beautiful?" Genma said effectively breaking the silence, "Seventeen-year-old girls don't usually just decide they're gonna go drinking for no reason. Especially when they still look depressed after two drinks."

"Long story," Sakura responded, deciding to ignore the comment about her age.

"I've got time," he pried.

With another sip of her drink, she told him about the confrontation with Sasuke the night before, and the one with Naruto just that afternoon, leaving out the fact that she fell asleep in Deidara's arms.

"Yikes," Genma said, "Don't worry your pretty little face over it though, it'll all come right."

"I hope so…" Sakura said as she downed her fourth drink.

"Sakura…" He said worriedly, finally noticing the four empty glasses, "Maybe you should lay off the drinks for tonight."

She looked over at him and flashed a smile.

"I'm okay, Genma-kun," Sakura said sweetly.

Genma raised an eyebrow at the affectionate suffix, and decided to use it to his advantage.

"Alright, Sakura-_chan_, the next one's on me," He said grinning. He signaled for the bartender to bring two more. The man gave Genma a disapproving glare, but continued with his work.

On their sixth glass, Genma started to get worried. He could hold his alcohol, but he wasn't so sure about his pink-haired friend. She definitely looked tipsy, and was smiling a lot more, giggling uncontrollably at some points.

"Genma-kun, why do you wear your hitai-ate like that?" She asked twirling a strand of his long hair in her fingers.

"I don't know," He said truthfully, "I guess it makes me feel like someone's always watching my back, ya know?"

She giggled a little and took the senbon out of his mouth, placing it between her own teeth.

"Guess that makes sense," She said grinning, "But anything that comes out of your mouth just has ways of making sense when it clearly doesn't."

He pouted at her as she mimicked the Genma grin with the senbon in her mouth.

Genma just couldn't resist.

He plucked the senbon from her mouth as his brain worked in overdrive to stop himself from what he was about to do. But as he leaned in and he captured her lips hungrily, he decided that his brain had dropped several floors, and was currently residing in his pants.

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Like I said, don't kill me. They are going to _just be friends_. I just love Genma, heh. Anyways, R&R! 


	6. What No One Else Knows

Okay, I actually wrote two seperate chapter 6s and decided to go with this one. Sorry it took longer than usual! I just realized that I've forgotten about Sai, I'll put him in the next chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter VI: No One Has To Know

Deidara paced in his cell pondering over a certain pink-haired kunoichi. Why in hell did he comfort that sadistic bitch again? He racked his brain for a suitable answer, but found none. He groaned in frustration and rubbed his temples as he fought with himself over it.

_Yeah, the girl's pretty, but I don't feel anything for her._

_**Don't feel anything my ass, you like her, and you know it!**_

_She's just a stupid little girl._

_**She kicked your ass, so what does that make you?**_

_Shut up, yeah!_

_**So you admit it, you like her.**_

_No, damn it! She's probably got a boyfriend anyways!_

_**Yeah, because she's so damn hot.**_

_SHUT IT!_

He slumped against the wall. The guard at the door looked in to see a very frustrated blonde banging his head against the stone wall.

_He's finally lost it,_ the guard thought.

At the Bar

Sakura sat on Genma's lap as they moved their lips together, hardly stopping to take a breath. He roughly massaged her tongue, tasting the alcohol on her breath.

She wasn't _that_ drunk, though. She was trying to forget about a certain blonde (A/N: no, it's not Naruto…). Deidara felt… warm… and safe, and that wasn't the way she was supposed to feel about a criminal, Akatsuki no less. But, as he stroked her hair- Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as Genma broke the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers. She dove in for another kiss, but Genma put his hand between them.

"Sakura," He whispered, "You know Kakashi's gonna kick my ass for not kicking you out of here the moment I saw you."

"Well, he doesn't have to know," she said crossing her arms across her chest.

Genma sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but," Genma said as if it were the most painful thing to do, "Let me take you home, it's getting late, you should get some sleep."

Before she could protest, he held her wrist firmly in his grasp and placed some money on the counter. He dragged her out of the bar and down the street towards her apartment.

She was stumbling the whole way and then tripped completely, falling towards the ground. Strong arms caught her and swept her up, carrying her bridal-style the rest of the way. She fell asleep before they even made it to her door. He pulled a key out of her pocket and went inside. Walking into the bedroom he laid her down gently on the bed and pulled the covers over her.

He looked down at her sleeping figure. She looked so sweet and innocent, like the way she used to be. He knelt down and tucked a stray lock of pink hair behind her ear. She stirred a little and smiled before settling once more into sound sleep.

Genma went back into the living room/kitchen and found a cabinet of medicine. He pulled out two Advil and went to the fridge grabbing a bottle of water. He returned to her room and placed the items on her dresser and wrote a small note placing it next to them.

"'Night, beautiful." He whispered.

Genma then vanished from the room in a silent puff of smoke.

The Next Morning

Sakura awoke to a pounding headache and light blinding her as she opened her eyes. She squinted, trying to focus on her surroundings. A small wave of relief washed over her as she recognized her surroundings as her own room.

Sakura blushed a little as she remembered kissing Genma. How much did she drink? Five glasses? No, it was six. She looked to her dresser and saw her hangover cure there.

_Not only did he take me home, but he even set this out for me…_

**Stop! What about your bad boy?! **_**What about Deidara?!**_

_Shut up! You suck! I had completely forgotten about him! Way to go!_

Inner Sakura smirked in satisfaction.

Sakura sat up and downed the pills with a sip of water. She then saw the note on the counter and picked it up.

_Sakura-chan,_

_I had a great time talking to you last night, beautiful. Sorry it had to end with you passing out, but I didn't mid carrying you._

Typical Genma...

_Maybe we could train together some time, I'm sure there's a bit I could teach you about senbon throwing. Take some Advil, first hangovers are the worst, don't worry, you'll feel better in a good thirty minutes._

_-Genma_

She smiled and placed the note back on her dresser, getting out of bed to get ready for the day.

As afternoon came she left for the southern prison, thinking of Deidara the whole way, trying to sort things out in her mind. While staring off into space, she didn't even notice that she was already walking down the halls of the interrogation unit.

She shook her head clear of thoughts as she pushed open the door to interrogation chamber 13.

As expected, Deidara stood in there leaning against the wall. What wasn't expected was the fuming guard.

_Of course, Deidara just __**had**__ to insult the guard…_

**He wouldn't be **_**our**_** Dei-kun if he didn't.**

_I suppose you're- __**our? **__Dei__**-kun?**_

**Of course.**

_But I- But you-_

**Just shut it and dismiss the guard.**

"Sir, you may leave," Sakura said to the guard, who gave one last angry glare to the blonde, who merely smirked in response, and left in a huff.

As soon as the door shut Deidara started laughing.

"What'd you say to him," Sakura asked rolling her eyes.

"Oh nothing," He said smirking at Sakura.

"Whatever," Sakura said shaking her head, smiling slightly, "same deal as always, five minutes of 'good cop'."

She was doing it again. She was smiling. She felt so at ease, like everything that happened over the past four years just… didn't. It felt good to be so relaxed.

"So Dei-kun,"

_Oh Kami, that is so your fault for putting that idea in my head._

Inner Sakura snickered in response.

"What can you tell me about the Akatsuki?" She said smiling at him.

"Nothing, yeah," He said smiling back.

Sakura was struck with a sudden curiosity.

_My job is to find out about Akatsuki, I guess that classifies as Akatsuki._

**That's my girl!**

"So what can you tell me about," She started and he was about to cut her off with some comment, but she finished before he could, "Yourself."

He was shocked, to say the least. When he 'joined' the Akatsuki, no one cared where he came from, or what happened to make him leave Iwagakure. They only cared that he could help them achieve their goal. Sasori was the only one to even really _know _him. This girl; the one who tortures him, the one who killed Sasori, the one who defeated him, the one that consumed his thoughts; had asked him what no one had asked him before.

She didn't expect an answer, so when she was met with silence, she wasn't surprised.

"Not much to tell, yeah" Deidara said making her look up at him in shock. His eyes were unfocused, as if gazing into past memories. His expression was slightly sad and his eyes didn't meet hers, "Obviously, I was raised in Iwagakure. I had a sister, her name was Katsu, and I loved her. We weren't born there, but she didn't remember our real family, she was too young. I did though. We were a part of a small clan, Tsukurite (A/N tsukurite is japanese for 'creator')

"We all lived together in a small town outside the city. I was happy, we all were. We loved our art and our Kekkei Genkai that brought it to life, I was always taught that art was meant to last forever. Funny how now my opinion of art couldn't be more opposite."

"One day I took my sister into town... when we got back..." He trailed off and Sakura understood.

_His entire clan was slaughtered._

_

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_

Another chapter done! The rest of Deidara's story will be in the next chapter. Funny how you can tell things like that to the girl who is currently in charge of causing you pain. As promised, Sakura and Genma are _not_ together and they will train together and be _friends. _R&R!


	7. Back Then

Yay! Thanks so much for all your reviews! I'm glad you all like it so far! Okay, so Sai's actually going to say something in this chapter, not much, but I didn't forget him! Okay, the rest of Deidara's story is in this chapter, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... (cries in corner hugging Deidara plushie)**

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Repentance 

Chapter VII: Back Then

Deidara shook his head and looked up at Sakura with a smile.

"But it doesn't matter now, that was in the past, yeah," He said in a voice laced with sadness.

"Just because it's in the past doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt," Sakura said looking away, "I know that all too well."

"Your right, it does still hurt," Deidara said losing his smile, "But, you can't change the past, you have to just do your best to move on."

"And you did that by leaving," Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"No," Deidara said. Sakura looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "At first we went and lived in Iwa for a few years, yeah. We hid our Kekkei Genkai and I enrolled in the ninja academy there. I worked as best as I could to make enough money for my sister and me. I would take on several odd jobs before I became a ninja, yeah. We were able to live in relative peace…"

"If your clan being killed isn't what made you leave, then what did?" Sakura asked as she moved closer to him.

"My sister… yeah," He said quietly, "My sister was seen experimenting with her Kekkei Genkai. She found a way to… make explosives with it. The one who saw her… killed her immediately, and all I could do was sit in the bushes scared shitless and watch it happen…"

Deidara was shaking now. He wouldn't let a tear fall, he was holding it all in. He didn't want to seem weak, especially not in front of Sakura. She slid right up next to him so their sides were touching and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"T-that's horrible," She said on the verge of tears, "Who was it? Who did that?"

"I followed the man after he left, yeah," He said darkly, "They… went to the Tsuchikage tower."

_Flashback_

_Deidara listened in and he couldn't believe what he heard. The man who killed his sister was speaking to the Tsuchikage with his dead sister in his arms. _

"_Those damn Tsukurite are still out there! I saw this Tsukurite girl using her Kekkei Genkai to make clay explode." The man said._

"_What?!" The Tsuchikage stood up angrily, "That's impossible! I supervised the mission myself, they were all killed! And you say this girl was making the clay __**explode**__?!"_

"_Hai, Tsuchikage-sama, she must have discovered the ability on her own."_

"_Damn! This is why we tried to get rid of them! They're dangerous if there's more left that know how to do that!"_

"_We will do a city-wide search." The man said bowing._

"_See that not a single child is left unchecked." The Tsuchikage demanded._

"_Hai, Tsuchikage-sama, we will not fail you."_

_End Flashback_

"After what I heard at the Tsuchikage's tower, I was furious, yeah" Deidara clenched his fists, "I waited; I waited until the day I could strike back. I continued to walk in and out of the Tsuchikage's office with my genin team for missions, yeah. I played my cards right and was overlooked in the search for members of my clan. I remained in the shadows. I eventually became a chunin at the age of twelve and I had found out how to use my Kekkei Genkai in the way my sister had, yeah."

"But, there's no record of anything happening in Iwa. The Tsuchikage is still alive, and there were no explosions or-"

"Because they didn't happen," Deidara whispered venomously startling Sakura, "Before I could take me revenge I was… approached by the Akatsuki. They somehow found out that I was a Tsukurite and wanted to recruit me, yeah. I refused. I wanted to take my revenge and then live in that damn city, right under their noses, silently laughing at them. They would have never known it was me, yeah."

Sakura looked up at him questioningly, "If you refused then how-"

"Akatsuki didn't take no for an answer, yeah," He said looking away, "I was strong, I fought them. I won against one of them, yeah, and I was confident I could win against the others. That was, until Uchiha Itachi showed up, yeah."

"He used his Mangekyou on you," Sakura said.

"Yeah," Deidara said leaning onto Sakura a little, "I gave in. It was too much for me to handle. But it told me that I was still too weak to complete my goal. So on desire to become stronger, and fear of Itachi, I went with them."

"You could have run, you didn't have to stay with them, you could have-"

"What? Come here? And be welcomed with open arms?" He said sarcastically, "And I certainly couldn't have just stayed there, they would have found out who I was, and the Akatsuki would know where I was. I would have had to run, and they would have found me again. I had no choice."

"You always have a choice," Sakura said, "People who say they don't have a choice are taking the easy excuse. Everyone has a choice, saying you don't is saying you took the easiest choice and are making excuses-"

"Then what's your excuse?" Deidara said looking into her eyes, "Just yesterday you were saying that doing what you did was the only way for you to get stronger, yeah."

"I – That's – But…" She stuttered, "I don't have an excuse…" Sakura said in defeat. She leaned against Deidara closing her eyes slightly, "It just hurt so much, and I wanted it to go away. Yeah, I did take the easy way out. I did make excuses."

"What's in your past that hurts so much, yeah?" Deidara said putting his arm around Sakura's petite form.

"Sasuke…" She said as tears fell down her face.

"The Uchiha brat, huh?" Deidara snorted, "The kid's not worth your time."

He got no response and looked down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even. She'd fallen asleep. He chuckled and brought his other hand up to stroke her cherry locks.

"My, my Sakura-chan," He whispered, "What in the world have you done to me?"

"Dei-kun…" Sakura muttered in her sleep.

"Or a better question," He said to himself raising an eyebrow, "What in the world have _I_ done to _you_."

Team Seven Bridge Earlier That Morning

Naruto sighed looking at his reflection in the water. As two others joined his own he looked up to see Kakashi and Sasuke on either side of him.

"Sakura-chan's even later than you Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto said brokenly. Neither of his teammates responded.

"I'm sure Ugly is sitting in front of a mirror trying to make herself a little presentable." Sai said from the other side of the bridge.

Naruto didn't even respond to Sai as he turned to look at his sensei.

"You know where she is today?" He asked.

"There are no interrogations she needs to handle until later today that I know of. She should be here." Kakashi replied.

"My rival!" A voice said from the end of the small bridge, "You should keep a better eye on your youthful students!"

_Gai…_ they all thought.

"Do you know where she is?" Naruto asked.

"Alas, I do not know where she is now." Gai said holding a hand over his heart looking down, "But last night I saw her at a bar in town. The poor girl was so full of un-youthful gloom."

"A bar?" Kakashi turned to his 'rival', "Why was Sakura-chan at a _bar_?"

"Drinking her poor troubles away," Gai said, "I left not long after she arrived when I saw her gain some company."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Who…?" He asked slowly.

_Please don't be Genma, please don't be Genma, please don't be Genma…_

"Genma."

"Kuso!" Kakashi cursed as she headed towards Genma's apartment.

On the other side of town, Genma was just exiting his apartment, senbon in place between his teeth. His thoughts were wrapped around a young kunoichi that was now at the interrogation unit in the southern prison. His brow furrowed as he thought of the younger version of her; the one that would chase after Sasuke blindly and always fall behind.

Sure, the girl was annoying back then, but she was at least _alive_. Now, she'd gotten strong, but she walked around like a ghost. She wasn't alive, and she wasn't dead, she merely existed.

His thoughts were interrupted when he all but slammed into the silver-haired jounin that came out of nowhere.

"Fuck, Kakashi!" He cursed as he regained his balance, "'The hell are you doing?"

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Kakashi demanded. He saw Genma stiffen, "I swear if you touched her I'll…"

"Calm down, I saw her last night, that's it," Genma said waving his hands in front of him claiming innocence, "She got drunk and I took her home, I didn't touch her."

"Genma if you're lying to me…" Kakashi let the threat hand as he glared at the special jounin.

"Kakashi, I'm not a liar," Genma pouted and faked sadness, "I thought you were my friend…"

"Shut up, Genma," Kakashi said as he relaxed a little, "Gai nearly gave me a heart attack when he said he saw you with Sakura-chan at a bar."

"I repeat, I didn't touch her," Genma said again, "Now if you don't mind, I have to get going, I've got a mission report to hand in that I was supposed to get in yesterday when I got back."

"Alright," Kakashi sighed, "If you see Sakura-chan tell her we're looking for her."

"Will do," Genma said walking away and holding his hand up in a wave.

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Phew, all done with that chapter, I think its my longest! Not by much though... ah well! R&R! 


	8. Alive

Hah, funny story, I got so wrapped up in writing chapter nine, that I forgot I already had chapter eight done. I'm such a dobe. Ah well! Thanks for being patient! Here's the chapter, the next one should come real soon.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (Makes me so sad...)**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter VIII: Alive

Deidara looked at the sleeping kunoichi in his arms. She looked innocent, and wore a small smile. Tearstains lined her cheeks and he brought his hand down from her cherry locks to wipe them away.

Sakura stirred a little at the touch and her eyes opened slightly. She heard a soft chuckle from above her and she brought the hand up that wasn't wrapped around Deidara's waist to rub her eyes sleepily and look up.

"That," Deidara said, "Is just too cute."

In all honesty, her rubbing her eyes so childishly like that, was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen.

She didn't bolt away as her eyes focused on the man holding her. She didn't start strangling him when she heard his voice. No, she smiled.

And, of course, he smirked.

The expression fit him so well. Strange, that such an expression could actually _fit_ someone. But, then again, the person Sakura thought it fit so well was strange himself.

She giggled a little at her thoughts and just continued to look into Deidara's lone misty blue orb.

"And just what's so funny?" He asked raising an eyebrow, but keeping his smirk.

"You," She said smiling and tightened her hold around his waist, burying her face in his chest.

"And what's so funny about me?" He asked, bringing a hand up to stroke her hair again.

"Everything," She replied.

Her smile faded as she looked at the clock. It was time for her to leave. Reluctantly, she pulled away from his warmth and stood. He followed suit and then leaned against the wall.

"**Ja ne**," Sakura said.

"Ja ne," Deidara responded.

He watched as she stood there for a moment. She fidgeted a little and he raised an eyebrow at her. In the blink of an eye she was in front of him with her lips pressed softly against his cheek, and in another, she was out the door.

Deidara's hand unconsciously moved up to his cheek as he stood there in shock.

_Maybe getting caught wasn't so bad, _he thought.

**No kidding, dumb ass.**

Outside the Southern Prison

Sakura was arguing with her inner self about Deidara and what exactly possessed her to kiss him, even if it was just on the cheek.

**Damn it! An inch to the left and it would have been on the lips! Sooooo cloooooooose!**

_What the hell, aren't I supposed to have a conscience or something?_

**You **_**were**_** supposed to, but you got me instead**

_How great for me_

**Yep, 'cause now you're gonna fall for Dei-kun thanks to me.**

_Yeah- hey wait a minute! I am not falling for Dei-kun!_

**Sweetie, you just called him Dei-kun, you fell asleep in his arms, and you kissed him. Face it, you're in love.**

_I am not!_

**Are too.**

_Nuh-uh_

**Ya-huh**

_Nuh-uh_

**Ya-huh**

_Nu-_

Bang!

Sakura fell to the ground at the force of impact. She rubbed her head and looked up to see a hand outstretched before her.

"You should pay more attention, beautiful," Genma said as she took his hand, "If you zone out like that on a mission it could cost you your life."

"A-arigatou, Genma-san," Sakura said blushing and standing with his help.

"Aw, what happened to Genma-kun?" He asked pouting.

Sakura blushed even more and began stuttering.

"W-w-well, I-I think t-that we s-should k-k-keep last n-night bet-tween us…" She managed to say.

"I was only teasing, sweetheart," Genma said grinning.

"O-oh, right," Sakura said looking away.

"You're team was looking for you, by the way," He added.

"Oh, okay, I'll go look for them then!" Sakura said smiling and walking past him and yelled back, "I'll get back to you on that senbon training! Ja ne, Genma-kun!"

Genma grinned at her retreating figure.

_Is it just me, or does she seem more alive?_

Team Seven Bridge

Sakura walked towards the little red bridged where she saw the familiar blonde and silver spikey hair. On the other side of the bridge there was clanging of metal, and streaks of black moving quickly across the field.

"konnichi wa!" Sakura yelled waving to the figures on the bridge.

They immediately turned their attention to the smiling kunoichi walking towards them. And it wasn't one of those 'faker than Sai's' smiles, but a real, bright smile. They all blinked a few times and rubbed their eyes seeing Sakura's cheery face.

She came up to them still smiling.

"Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the road to life!" She said scratching the back of her neck like Naruto usually does.

Kakashi gave his happy eye crease and Naruto grinned at her excuse.

"First you're late, now you're making up excuses," Naruto said, "I think you hang around Kakashi too much!"

Sakura giggled a little, and then her smile was replaced with an evil grin.

"So, which one of you wants their ass kicked first?" She asked.

Deidara's Cell

Deidara paced the length of his cell, much to his guard's amusement. The guard on duty watched as Deidara walked back and forth, with his brow furrowed in thought.

_Okay, sorting out feelings for Sakura, once and for all._

**You love her.**

_I do not; I am merely infatuated with her._

**I never knew that you knew such big words.**

_Shut up, yeah._

**No matter how many times you say that, I'll never stop talking.**

_Well you know what?! Ugh, never mind. Okay, one; she's beautiful._

**Two: she's strong.**

_Three: she's intelligent._

**Four: she's… persuasive.**

_Five: she's just like me._

For once, Deidara's inner voice didn't argue with something he said.

**You're in love.**

_You bet your sorry ass I am._

Team Seven Bridge

Team seven lay sprawled across the ground, all panting heavily from their sparring. Sakura had won against both Kakashi and Naruto, while Sasuke and Sai's battle dragged on throughout both of Sakura's fights. Sasuke had ended up the winner, but sported plenty of cuts, bruises, and ink stains.

Sakura healed her friends, all the while keeping her smile. Everyone could tell it was true, and that she was genuinely happy.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said, "You seem so happy today."

Sakura smiled at Naruto.

"Yeah, I'm in a great mood today!" She said punching the air, "I feel amazing!"

"That's good to hear Sakura," Sasuke said. Everyone gave him a questioning look, but then began chatting with Sakura.

"Well, well, beautiful," A voice said from behind, "You seem cheerful today."

Everyone spun around to see Genma walking up to them, senbon in mouth.

"Hey," Sakura said waving, "Yeah, I sure am!"

"That's good to hear, though I can't say I didn't enjoy your company last night, it was heartbreaking to see your beautiful face filled with so much sorrow," Genma said putting a hand to his heart and faking a small sob, "Didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier and see how you were, you ran off so fast."

"Gomen, Genma-kun," Sakura said, "If you'd like we can all go get ramen and talk."

The mere mention of ramen had Naruto already on his feet and running to Ichiraku. Sasuke muttered something along the lines of 'ramen-obsessed dobe' and went after him.

"Sure thing, beautiful," Genma said grinning, "Of course if Kakashi here doesn't mind."

Kakashi glared at him for a moment then nodded in consent. Pulling out his orange book, he walked away with Sai at his heels.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Genma said as they started to walk down the street.

"Hm?" Sakura said looking over her should a little.

"It's good to see you so… alive." He said.

Sakura thought about it for a moment, then smiled brighter than she had before and continued walking along towards Ichiraku.

* * *

There ya go! I hope you liked it!

I have a question though...

Should I drag out Deidara and Sakura's friendship with him in prison?

Or should I just get this moving already and get him outta there?

I want your opinion! Vote, out of prison or in prison.

R&R!


	9. Closer

Okay! Votes say get him out! One of 'em gave me an awesome idea too! Therefore this chapter will be the last with him in prison. I'm starting to think that I should have called this story "Choices" but the name was just the first thing that popped into my head when I started writing this . . Ah well. Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter IX: Closer

* * *

Sakura made her way towards interrogation room 13. She smiled brightly at everyone she passed, she was eager to see Deidara.

Over the past few days, she had gotten close to him. He shared some stories of Tobi's idiocy and she shared stories of her own friends. They were always laughing and smiling, simply enjoying each other's company.

Sakura pushed open the door to the room and dismissed the guard with a smile. After the guard left she went and sat down against the wall next to Deidara.

"Ohayou, Dei-kun," She said smiling at him.

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan, yeah," He said smiling back.

And that's how it went every morning. When she wasn't interrogating someone or at the hospital, she was with her friends. She'd taken up Genma's offer for training, and she was almost as deadly accurate with senbon as he was. Genma had definitely become one of her closest friends.

Sakura's mind always wandered to the thought of Deidara being added to that group of friends. For him to become a Konoha shinobi and be able to really be her friend. She owed him a lot. He was the one that had warmed her heart.

Sakura smiled and laughed as Deidara told a story about a mission he had in snow with another team where Tobi had gotten the bright idea for a snowball fight. It didn't end well, to say the least, but everyone got a kick out of it.

"Tobi really is an idiot sometimes," Sakura said smiling.

"Sakura-chan, Tobi's an idiot all the time," Deidara said.

"Come on, he has to have done something right at some point," Sakura said.

"Well," Deidara said, "There _was_ this one time in Grass where he actually shut up for more than five minutes and really kicked ass, yeah. I swear he was like a freakin' different person! It was actually after that when Itachi started acting weird about Tobi, yeah, always asking questions about him, always keeping a close eye on him…"

"Really?" Sakura said as the gears in her head started moving.

"Yeah, it was really strange," Deidara said, his brow furrowing, "He knows something that I don't, and whenever I asked about it he'd always avoid the question."

"Tobi… there's something not right about him for sure," Sakura said, "I mean sure, he acts like an idiot, but he really has skill as a fighter. Is there anything else you noticed about him?"

Sakura was working on pure curiosity, hardly noticing that he was in fact talking about the Akatsuki. Like he repeatedly refused to before.

Deidara opened his mouth to speak, but then snapped it shut and glared at her for a moment.

"Sakura-chan," He said, "I consider you a friend, but you're still not getting anything about the Akatsuki out of me."

**Too late, Dei-kun, I already got it.**

_Tobi… I'll go have a little talk with him._

**What about Dei-kun, though? If we find out what we need, what'll happen to him?**

"Sakura-chan?" Deidara asked suddenly somber, "What's going to happen to me, yeah?"

Sakura froze. The man was reading her mind. The obvious answer would be that he would be executed. But she couldn't bring herself to believe it.

Deidara looked at her as her posture slumped and her eyes gave a look of defeat.

Sakura spoke quietly, "I don't really know. I wish I did, I'm sorry Dei-kun…"

Deidara gave a bitter laugh.

"So this is where I'm going to die, yeah?" He said smiling sadly, catching on to what she wasn't saying, "I guess I didn't get to go out with a bang like I wanted."

Sakura choked on tears as he spoke of his own death so easily.

"Deidara," Sakura said quietly, "Remember what I said about having a choice?"

"Yes…" He said slowly wondering where she was going with this.

"What if I said that there may be a way for you to…" She paused for a moment, then decided to continue, "Join Konoha…?"

Deidara sat in a shocked silence as he stared at Sakura.

_Join Konoha? There's a thought…_

"Would I, if it were possible?" Deidara said thinking, "I don't know; I doubt I'd ever really be accepted here because of my association with Akatsuki. But, I'd also gain relative protection from the Akatsuki coming after me. And, of course, there's always a catch isn't there?"

"You catch on quick," Sakura said, "Yes; there'd definitely be a catch."

"That being," Deidara said evenly, "That I would have to give Konoha all the information on the Akatsuki that I am able."

"Yes," Sakura responded, "With all those as factors, would you?"

"I'd have a choice?" Deidara asked.

"You always have a choice, Deidara."

He didn't answer her for a while and she looked up to see him looking right into her eyes. He was so close; their sides were touching. He brought a hand up and gently touched her cheek.

Sakura leaned into his touch and their faces were mere centimeters apart. She looked into his misty blue orbs as he closed the small distance left between them.

He captured her lips in a sweet, chaste kiss.

_He didn't answer my question… _

**You so sure about that?**

Hokage Tower

Sakura stood in Tsunade's office after she had left the southern prison a half an hour before looking at the Hokage as she lay passed out on her desk.

"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said twitching.

No response.

"Tsunade-shishou," She said a little louder.

No response.

"Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura yelled, "Orochimaru is here!"

"W-w-what?!" Tsunade yelled bolting upright, "Where is that bastard! I'll kill him!"

"Orochimaru isn't here…" Sakura said sweat dropping.

"H-huh?" Tsunade said snapping out of it, "Ahem, Sakura, what brings you here?"

"You called me here…" Sakura said sweat dropping again.

"Ah, yes, what information have you been able to obtain?" Tsunade asked turning serious.

"Nothing specific yet, but I would like you to move the responsibility of interrogating the other Akatsuki from Morino Ibiki to me, I have some questions to ask him, I think it might get us somewhere," Sakura said, "I have also learned a little about Deidara."

_She just has to know he may be willing to make a deal, she doesn't have to know how I know or anything that happened between the two of us._

"I will make the switch," Tsunade said raising an eyebrow, "What have you learned about the other?"

"Deidara did not join the Akatsuki of his own free will; we may be able to strike a deal with him. Rather than gain information through interrogation, this could be far more productive." Sakura said in a professional manner.

"Hm…" Tsunade thought for a moment, "What kind of a deal do you propose?"

"Protection by Konoha from the Akatsuki, and release from prison, with restrictions and precautions of course," Sakura said, "In exchange for all he knows about the Akatsuki and swearing his loyalty to Konoha."

"You think he will accept this proposal?" Tsunade asked.

"I am almost positive he will," Sakura said.

"I'll have to think about this, Sakura, and if you gain information from the other Akatsuki it would not be necessary," Tsunade said, "We would be taking a risk in letting him stay in the village. He would not easily be accepted by those in the village who know who he is"

"All precautions can be taken to make sure he stays within the walls and causes no trouble," Sakura said evenly.

"As I said, I will take this into careful consideration," Tsunade said, "In the meantime I would like to speak with him if you could bring him here later today."

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said smiling, "I'll bring him here when I get back from the Northern Prison."

Tsunade handed Sakura a scroll to take with her that informed Ibiki about the switch and turned her attention to the papers on her desk. Sakura left her then after hearing the curses at the papers mumbled under Tsunade's breath.

"I've got a bad feeling," Tsunade said to Shizune after Sakura had left.

"Why's that?" Shizune asked.

"I won a bet last night," Tsunade said.

Heading towards the Northern Prison, Sakura's thoughts turned back to Deidara.

_Flashback_

_After they broke the kiss he rested his forehead on hers, his eyes closed, simply enjoying their closeness._

_Sakura looked at the peaceful look on his face and smiled. He looked… breathtaking. His arm had wrapped around her and his hand still caressed her cheek._

_He finally opened his eyes to see Sakura's emerald orbs dancing in front of his own pale blue._

_A knock was heard at the door and they shot up and about five feet away from each other as the door opened. Sakura's face was immediately red and she left without another word as the guard who opened the door told her that Tsunade wanted to see her._

_End Flashback_

Sakura brought her hand up and touched her lips gently.

_He really kissed me…_

**Cha! He kissed us!**

_Shut up, don't ruin the moment.

* * *

_

I hope you liked this chapter! And just so you know, Deidara **might** join Konoha, key word: **might**. I don't really know yet, but I am thinking about it long and hard! R&R!


	10. Secrets and Choices

Here it is! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Oh and, this fic is by no means close to over! On the contrary! It has just begun! Corny, yeah, I know... Anyways! Enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the following and previous chapters in this fanfic would have actually happened. And they didn't... so yeah... I don't own it...**

* * *

Repentance 

Chapter X: Choices

* * *

::N Interrogation Room 9:: 

Sakura looked at the sign on the door and pushed it open. Inside Tobi sat down against the wall looking completely innocent. Sakura knew he was anything but.

Sakura came in and sat across from Tobi who looked at her with a smile.

"Hello," He said cheerfully, "Tobi told you before, Tobi knows things, but Tobi won't tell you."

"Yes, I remember that," Sakura said frowning.

She didn't like Tobi. He was hiding something behind his stupidity. There was definitely more to him than meets the eye.

"_I swear he was like a freakin' different person!"_

Multiple personality disorder? No it isn't that. He was definately hiding. He was someone important; Deidara said that Itachi had caught on to something.

"Your friend wasn't as secretive about things as you, though."

A flash of anger shot across his face and his features twisted in a scowl. The second it was there it was gone again and replaced by the cheery façade.

"Really now?" Tobi said in a cold voice that betrayed his face, "I'm sure he hasn't. He knows the consequences of such actions."

Sakura noticed the new voice 'Tobi' used and her suspicion grew. He had also dropped refering to himself in the third person. Observation was the key to interrogation.

"He also knew the consequences of not speaking," She said.

"If that is the case, then Leader-sama will be told," He responded.

"Oh, but he already knows," Sakura said, her eyes narrowing, "I just told him."

The dark-haired man's eyes narrowed as he glared at her.

"I'm sorry," He said coldly, "I don't understand."

Sakura studied his chakra; she didn't bother before because he had the chakra restraints on and thought nothing of it. She recognized the way the chakra flowed. It was fiery and erratic, even though it was well controlled. She'd only seen its type twice before.

"Hiding behind an alias and a mask," Sakura said, "Quite clever of you to play the idiot; avoiding suspicion of your enemies and the rest of the Akatsuki. But it is exactly that which made your fighting style so strange. Right, Uchiha?"

The man froze.

_Seems my suspicion is correct._

"So what's your real name, Uchiha?" Sakura asked.

He glared at her.

"Tobi's name is Tobi," He said, "Tobi doesn't know what you're saying."

"Really?" Sakura said raising an eyebrow, "Tell me, do you remember that little trick I did on your 'senpai' your first day here?"

'Tobi' nodded slowly.

Sakura's hands became a blur as she quickly formed hand seals and placed her palm on his forehead.

He inhaled sharply as her chakra invaded and she brought her hand to his face. Pain shot through his body, but he remained still. Something was different about her; he noted. She had a different look in her eyes than before. This wasn't bloodlust or sadistic pleasure, no, it was _pity_.

"Come on '_Tobi_'," She said, "This can go on all day if it has to."

"Tobi has nothing to say!" The man said defiantly.

Sakura drew her hand away and back-handed him, drawing blood with her nails. 'Tobi' clenched his teeth in pain but remained silent.

"So you choose to remain silent," Sakura said annoyed.

'Tobi' nodded again.

"Feh, in the words of a good friend of mine," Sakura said, "How troublesome…"

She stood up and, giving him another glare, headed to the door. As the door shut behind her 'Tobi' breathed a sigh of relief.

He leaned against the wall, but then shot up after feeling two familiar chakras draw near.

_Hokage Office_

Sakura burst into the office, ready to share her suspicions. Tsunade was, of course, face first in a pile of papers.

Sakura wasted no time.

"_Jiraya you pervert!_" She yelled, "_Stop spying on the Hokage!_"

"Where is he?! I'm gonna kick his ass all the way to Suna!" Tsunade yelled bolting upright.

"I was just here an hour ago, and you fell asleep again?" Sakura observed raising an eyebrow.

"Is there something you want to say?" Tsunade avoided the question twitching.

"After speaking with 'Tobi' I have come to the conclusion that he is much more than meets the eye," Sakura said, "I spoke to him and asked him questions to see his reaction to them. All of his reactions supported my suspicions. I also took a moment to study his chakra, there's no mistaking it. We're dealing with an Uchiha."

"Wha-"

**_Boom!_**

The ground shook as an explosion rang through the air.

"'The hell was that?" Tsunade said in alarm as she stood and ran to the window.

Sakura followed Tsunade to the window looking off into the distance to see smoke rising from the north. She inwardly sighed in relief as she saw it wasn't from the south.

"Hokage-sama!" A shinobi yelled, running in, "The Northern Prison is under attack by the Akatsuki!"

"Kuso!" Tsunade cursed, "Sakura, head to the southern prison and secure it, order extra guards to the Akatsuki's cell, and fortify the chakra defense shields lining the walls."

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura said jumping out the window and towards the Southern Prison.

_Deidara this is it, it's time to choose._

**He better choose us!**

The explosions died down in the northern end of the village as Sakura burst into the Southern Prison, shooting out orders.

"You check the chakra flow in the walls," She shouted, "You call in more guards and spread them along the outside and on the walls. You six follow me down to the Akatsuki's cell."

Deidara had heard the explosions and knew exactly what happened, he just didn't know if he should be happy about it.

His life would go back to normal, but he wasn't so sure it he _liked_ normal. If he went back, he'd never see _her_ again, the only one who he had ever told his past to. But, then again did he have a choice?

"_Everyone has a choice"_

Was she right? Did he have a choice?

Deidara's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices and footsteps heading his way. He bolted upright and walked towards the center of his cell. Seven people came into sight running towards him. The one in the lead had bright pink hair flowing out behind her.

He smirked when he saw her. Of course she was the one in charge of making sure he wasn't broken out.

She opened her mouth to speak to him when she reached the cell but he spoke first.

"That was an amateur explosion at most from what I heard and felt, yeah, but there are few other than myself in Akatsuki that remotely know how to use explosives. My guess is that either the Uchiha and fish-face are here or my dumb ass partner got a hold of something in his cell, but I doubt that, yeah. Your walls are chakra enforced and it would take Kisame's Samehada to weaken them before a blast of even that level could take them down, yeah," He said shocking everyone to silence, "It's definitely Itachi and Kisame, yeah."

"And you couldn't have been this informative earlier in interrogation?" Sakura said angrily. He had successfully pushed the kiss to the back of her mind.

"I say what I want, when I want, yeah," Deidara said smirking.

Sakura mumbled something under her breath along the lines of 'cocky screwed up bastard' and fumbled around in her pockets for the key to his cell. After opening and walking into the cell, she relocked it and handed the keys to one of the shinobi outside the cell and moved to the wall to strengthen the chakra barrier.

"That's not gonna help much when they have the Samehada," Deidara said in a bored tone.

"It will at least slow them down," Sakura responded with clenched teeth, trying to concentrate.

Deidara sighed and leaned against the wall next to where Sakura was working. One of the guards was staring at him, not with fear, not with anything. The complete emotionless look that could only come from one man.

Deidara glared at him and he averted his eyes.

_This is it_

_This is my choice_

_After this, there's no turning back_

_I'll have to face the consequences_

_And I'm willing to do that_

Sakura felt the chakra barrier slowly being depleted and she turned around in time to see all but one of the shinobi that were with her fall to the floor unconscious. She backed away from the wall just in time to evade the explosion.

She reacted quickly and as soon as she was able to pinpoint the chakra signature of Kisame she lunged forward with a chakra infused fist. It hit its unsuspecting target throught the smoke straight on and the shark-man went flying through the air. She spun around to see Deidara free of his bonds and Itachi already headed for her.

"Hold on a second, Itachi," Deidara said, Itachi halted his attack, "I want to fight her."

"Hn," Itachi tossed Deidara a pack of clay and moved to the side, "Don't take too long."

"I won't, don't worry about that," Deidara said smirking and putting the pack at his waist reaching in for some clay. Sakura moved into a defensive position as she felt other chakra signatures heading her way. Reinforcements.

Deidara and Sakura lunged at each other exchanging blows. Cuts were drawn across her skin and his.

_Come on Deidara, you have a choice here._

Itachi watched the battle with emotionless eyes. Deidara was setting off small explosions; they had dragged the fight outside and away from where Itachi stood and Kisame lay unconscious. He hadn't created one of his clay birds to fly up on, he didn't have the time.

Sakura dashed towards him with a chakra-laced fist and hit the ground between them. Deidara jumped back to avoid the rocks that were sent flying and landed a few feet from the crater. He was ready. Everything was set up.

_My choice._

He formed that familiar hand sign.

_Every explosion has been for her, for my dear Katsu._

He could do this.

_This one, though, is for someone else._

"Sakura…" He whispered.

**_Bang!_**

The explosions rang out, and Sakura braced for impact. But nothing came.

She slowly opened her eyes to see Deidara standing right in front of her grinning. Behind him fire raged all across the ground and on the blown out side of the prison. Itachi was nowhere to be seen and the large body of Kisame was seen engulfed in the flames. He moved closer to her and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"My choice… is you."

* * *

Yayness! I hope you liked it! He has chosen her! But I haven't chosen what to do yet! In the next chapter will he still be there when those reinforcements arrive? Or will he have disappeared? Find out in the next chapter! R&R! 


	11. Deal, Akatsuki No More

Hurray for chapter 11! I'm so glad you all like it! I didn't know what you'd think about Deidara joining Konoha so I wanted to make sure. And after reading one of the reviews, I realized I killed Kisame too easily. So _he is not dead_. He's too awesome for that. Okay, so without further ado (Besides the disclaimer...) here is chapter 11.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto cries**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter XI: Deal, Akatsuki No More

* * *

Sakura and Deidara stood side by side in the Hokage's office under the intense gaze of Tsunade. 

"So you're telling me…" She said, "That he helped you, and drove off Itachi and Kisame."

After the fight at the prison the reinforcements had arrived moments after the explosion that Deidara set off. He was immediately restrained and his clay was, of course, taken. Sakura defended him, saying how he'd helped her get rid of the Akatsuki who'd come to 'rescue' him. The men were very skeptical and decided to take them both to Tsunade immediately.

Kisame's body that she'd seen in the flames before was gone. No one knew where it went, Deidara said that Kisame was tough and one explosion wouldn't take him out, so he'd probably fled. The burns would need to be treated and it would take a while for him to heal, so he wouldn't be a problem for a while.

Sakura took a deep breath.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you," She said evenly.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving.

"What proof do you need besides the remnants of the explosion?" Sakura said getting annoyed, "Don't you trust my words?"

That's would get her.

"Of course I trust you," She said quickly, "But it's my job to question these things. As Hokage I can't just say, 'Yeah, I totally believe the criminal it telling the truth.'"

"I'm not asking you to believe him," Sakura said, "I'm asking you to believe _me_."

Tsunade sighed.

"Well, aside from the fact that I trust you completely, it's in the village's best interest to believe what you're saying," She said then turned to Deidara, "You are aware of the situation you've put yourself in?"

"Completely aware, yeah," He said smirking.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, I've got a proposition for you," Tsunade scolded. The smirk stayed in place, but Tsunade went on anyways, "We will drop all charges against you and allow you the option of becoming a Konoha shinobi, if you tell us all you know about the location of Akatsuki bases and members. Your freedom will be restricted and you will be on probation for a year. Will you accept this?"

Deidara hesitated. Accepting meant he'd be free of the Akatsuki and Itachi. But it also put him on Akatsuki's hit list, though he'd already done that by attacking Itachi and Kisame.

Sensing his hesitation, Tsunade continued.

"You could, of course, always go back to that prison cell…" She added.

That clinched it. Deidara's smirk faded, he was certainly ready to get the hell out of that place.

"I accept your proposal, Hokage-sama," He said inclining his head slightly.

"Alright," Tsunade said smirking, "Sakura, you will accompany him wherever he goes, and he will reside with you for the time being. We will also be keeping a close eye on you with some ANBU guards. You will regain your status as chuunin from before you left Iwagakure."

Deidara twitched a little at the mention of the village that betrayed him, and he in turn betrayed. He remained silent though.

"You may take the upcoming Jounin Exams if you want to, but even with the status as jounin, you will not be allowed any missions outside the village," Tsunade continued, completely aware of the discomfort brought by the mention of Iwa; she filed that away for later use, "The village _will_ be informed of your presence, and they will be assured that you will not try anything. And I trust that you won't, especially not with Sakura keeping an eye on you. If you understand all of this, you are dismissed. You will report here tomorrow at noon."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Deidara said and turned to walk out, Sakura at his heels.

He was given hate filled looks from the shinobi that knew who he was, but he brushed it off. He understood; they had every right to hate him. Hell, he may have even killed someone close to them.

He may never be able to repent for his crimes, but he could at least try.

Sakura walked beside him in silence as they walked towards the entrance of the Hokage Tower. She gave her companion a long look before they walked out the door.

He was given a black cloak that resembled his old Akatsuki one. The only difference was that the collar was a little bit lower and there were no red clouds on it. It hung loosely on his shoulders and was unbuttoned to show the mesh shirt that the Akatsuki usually wore, and simple black pants. His clay pouch was not there, he wasn't allowed to have it until a month after he'd been in the village. He had his old scratched Iwa hitai-ate tied around his neck. He would get a Konoha one the next day; he'd put that one on his forehead.

They walked into the bright afternoon light. Deidara flinched at the sudden brightness. His scope was returned to him though, so only one eye needed to adjust. They walked in a comfortable silence; people who were walking on the streets seemed jumpy. Probably because of the break in by the Akatsuki.

Gossip was running wild and people were shooting them worried glances.

Sakura snorted; this was certainly not as warm a welcome as they gave Sasuke. Everyone was _happy_ to see Sasuke, yet they glared at Deidara with hatred, when he suffered the same, committed the same crimes, and defected. The only difference between them was that Sasuke was an Uchiha, and apparently that was enough to change the people's opinion completely.

"That man walking with the Gondaime's apprentice," One civilian said, "He's Akatsuki!"

"Really?!" Another responded rather loudly, "Has the Hokage lost her mind?!"

"She lost it a long time ago!" Another said.

That was it. Sakura spun around and in a flash she was right in front of them.

"You can gossip all you want," She said viciously, "But the minute you insult Tsunade-shishou, is when I draw the line!"

"G-g-gomen, H-Haruno-san…" One said nervously. They all froze as Deidara appeared right next to Sakura.

"And if you've got something to say about me, yeah," He said in a bored tone, "Then say it to my face. I promise I don't bite, yeah."

"U-u-um," The man stuttered, he turned his head as if he'd heard something, "Coming, dear!"

The man dashed off towards his fake 'dear' and the other two followed quickly.

"If there's one thing I'm going to miss about being Akatsuki, it'd be people being scared shitless of me," Deidara said grinning triumphantly at Sakura.

"How's that a good thing?" She asked raising an eyebrow and planting her fists on her hips.

Deidara seemed to think for a moment, and then grinned at Sakura.

"It's fun," He said.

"You're impossible," Sakura sighed and they continued their walk down the streets of Konoha.

Sakura quickly grew annoyed at the looks they were given, and whenever she noticed someone giving them one, she shot one back twice as fierce. They had no idea about the hell that Deidara went through. Of course, he'd trusted her with his past, she wasn't about to go blabbing it to everyone just so they'd stop staring.

Deidara on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it. He was amused by the looks he was given, and while Sakura glared back, he turned to them and flashed them a charming smile. Girls melted and changed their gossip from how scary it was for him to be in the village, to how good looking the ex-Akatsuki member was, while the guys raised their eyebrow.

They reached Sakura's house and she led him to the guest room. He placed the bag of the clothes he was provided with at the foot of the bed. He spotted the bathroom and excused himself to go take a shower.

While Deidara was gone, Sakura took the time to get something to eat for the first time that day and think on the situation.

"_I choose… you"_

Sakura smiled. He really cared about her. For a second she thought about what anyone would think if she let him get even closer than he already had. She frowned slightly and brushed the thought off, thinking of all the positives this new position offered instead.

**We got a hottie! What else do you need?**

_There are a lot more important things than that!_

**Like what?**

_We'll have information on the Akatsuki._

**Other than that?**

_Um… I'll let you know when I think of something._

Inner Sakura snickered in her mind, but fell silent as Deidara walked out into the kitchen. He was drying his hair a little with a towel as he walked in and then put it around his neck. He was wearing his long black pants, but most importantly, he had no shirt on.

Sakura couldn't help but gape at his finely toned muscles. He was thin from his time in captivity, but that in no way made him any less attractive.

Deidara saw her staring and smirked. He pretended he didn't notice and went to the chair next to Sakura, draping the towel across the back of it. Sakura had made a few bowls of ramen, and he was absolutely famished. He sat down, making sure he was as close to her as possible.

She blushed furiously and she stared down into her bowl of ramen.

Grinning in triumph he grabbed his chopsticks and broke them apart, digging into the food.

Sakura ate in silence, glancing briefly at Deidara to see him scarfing down his third bowl. She sighed and continued her meal. Inner Sakura had not stayed silent for long. As soon as Deidara had sat down, she went crazy. Sakura was working to fight back the blush, but it spread across her face quickly when Deidara stood up and brought his bowl to the sink, brushing his arm against hers.

_This is even more fun than scaring people,_ Deidara thought as he saw her blush.

"As much as I'm enjoying myself, yeah, and I'm sure you're having a great time ogling me, too," She blushed an even deeper red as he continued, "I'm gonna go get some sleep, yeah."

"H-h-hai, D-Dei-k-kun," She stuttered feeling like Hinata, "I-I'm gonna go g-get some sleep t-too…"

Deidara walked out of the kitchen and upstairs. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to do the same.

_This is going to be a long rest of my life._

**And I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it!**

_- Very Far Away -_

Tobi, Konan, Itachi, a burned Kisame, and Pein all stood in a circle in the dark room, discussing recent events.

"The idiot signed his death warrant," Kisame said in anger.

"You expected him to remain loyal when he had a chance to defect?" Konan asked.

"Tobi thinks we should leave him be for now," Tobi said, "We wouldn't be able to kill him while he's surrounded by Konoha shinobi. You got lucky when you broke into Konoha to get us out. There were a lot of the stronger nin off on important missions in Snow due to the current conflict there."

"I agree with Tobi on this," Pein said, "We will leave him alone for now."

Itachi stood there in silence. Since he began growing suspicious of Tobi he'd been observing more than participating in the meetings. Pein would always agree to whatever Tobi said; an example would be their current situation. Pein would usually want to brutally torture and murder anyone who dare defy him, and Deidara had _defected_. This was too strange.

Itachi was going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

* * *

Ooh, Itachi's gonna figu_**R**_e it out! And Deidara is just torturing poor Sakura! Okay, pr_**E**_pare for the fillers and the fluff! Tell me any specific cute moments you'd like to see in your re_**V**_iews. Plot will resume in a few chapters after Deidara meets the gang and h_**I**_s relationship with Sakura g_**E**_ts further. Akatsuki _**W**_ill let alone for now, but not for long. I hope you liked this chapter! R&R! 


	12. He Cooks!

Okay, one, I'd like to thank you all for your wonderful reviews, they really made my day! Two, I'd like to repeat that the next few chapters will be fluffy fillers. Yes you all love fillers and you know it. And three, don't make me count to three again! Sorry I've been All-American Rejects crazy for the past week. Dunno why. Anyways! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor will I ever. So sad, I know.**

* * *

Repentance 

Chapter XII: He Cooks!

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning to the sweet smell of… pancakes? 

**Oh Kami, he's hot **_**and**_** he cooks!**

_Who- Oh! Dei-kun!_

**Duh…**

Sakura jumped out of bed and ran a brush quickly through her hair. She ran downstairs and into the kitchen to see a pile of pancakes on the table and Deidara by the sink. He turned to face her with a grin.

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan," He said cheerfully, "I hope you don't mind that I raided your fridge to make pancakes, I've been eating shit the past month."

"No, I don't mind at all," Sakura said smiling, "It's been ages since I last had pancakes…"

The last time she had them was before her mother died a year after Sasuke had left. It was another blow to her heart, and another thing that sent her down a dark path. She pushed the thoughts away and sat down before pile of pancakes, putting a few on her plate. Deidara went and sat next to her helping himself to some as well.

Sakura took one bite and her eyes widened.

"Is something wrong, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"No!" Sakura said quickly, "These are the best pancakes I've ever eaten! Where'd you learn to cook like this?"

"When I was living with my sister in Iwa _someone_ had to cook, yeah, I figured I might as well get good at it," Deidara responded putting a rather large amount of pancakes in his mouth.

"Mhm," Sakura mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Glad you like em, yeah," Deidara said laughing.

Sakura blushed and took smaller bites.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan!" A familiar voice yelled from the door, "Gomen kudasai!"

"Hai, Naruto!" Sakura yelled, "I'll be right there!"

Sakura stood up and walked to the door opening it and leaning on the doorframe.

"Is it true?!" Naruto yelled/asked.

"Naruto, you don't need to yell, I'm right here," Sakura scolded, "And is what true?"

"That Akatsuki guy really living with you?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto, Deidara is living with me," Sakura said, "In fact, would you like to join us for breakfast?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but then the smell of pancakes wafted to the door and he dashed inside.

They walked into the kitchen to see Deidara putting his plate on the counter.

"You're done already?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"What can I say, yeah," Deidara said grinning, "I was hungry."

Sakura shook her head smiling and then gestured to Naruto.

"Deidara, this is Naruto," She said, "And Naruto, this is Deidara."

"Yeah I know who he is," Naruto said glaring at him and stuffing a pancake in his mouth, _an entire pancake_, "He's the one who killed Gaara."

The glare subsided when he tasted the pancakes and he immediately stuffed another in his mouth.

"Looks like he likes your pancakes, too," Sakura said sweat dropping at Naruto's quick change in attitude.

"That's not even my best dish, yeah," Deidara said, "Nothing's as good as my homemade ramen noodles."

Naruto looked up wide-eyed.

"Ramen?" He inquired eagerly.

"Of course," Deidara responded smirking, "You like ramen?"

_Oh no,_ Sakura thought

"Like ramen?!" Naruto yelled grinning, "I _love _ramen! My favorite is pork ramen, but I like all ramen really…"

"And there he goes," Sakura sighed as Naruto began his ramen rant.

Deidara sweat dropped as Naruto went on… and on, and on.

"Naruto, I'll treat you to ramen for lunch later, okay?" Sakura said in an attempt to shut him up.

Naruto gave his fox-like grin.

"Arigatou, Sakura-chan!"

_Phew, didn't know how much longer I could stand him yelling like that._

**Ditto**

"I'll meet you at Ichiraku at 1 o'clock after our meeting with the Hokage," Sakura said, then looked at the clock and gasped, "Which we're late for! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"S-sorry, I forgot!" Deidara said nervously.

"C'mon!" She said grabbing his wrist and tossing the keys to Naruto, "Lock up when you leave Naruto!"

Sakura dragged Deidara out the door and they ran quickly to the Hokage tower bursting through the front doors and running down the halls. They didn't even bother to stop outside Tsunade's office and instead just went right in.

Tsunade was asleep…

Sakura sweat dropped.

"Something tells me she won't care that we're a little late…" She said, "Tsunade-shishou."

No response.

"Hokage-sama," Deidara tried.

Still nothing.

Sakura and Deidara exchanged looks and smiled evilly.

"Oh my god, it's Orochimaru!" They both yelled.

"Where is he, I'll kill him!" Tsunade yelled bolting upright.

"Orochimaru's not here," Deidara said.

"Yeah, right…" Tsunade said, "Anyways, what are you here for?"

"… You asked us to come…" Sakura said.

"Huh?" Tsunade thought for a while, "Oh! Yes…"

She went through the desk drawers, pulling out a black leaf hitai-ate and several blank scrolls. She handed him the hitai-ate, which he put on, and then got up and gestured for them to follow her into the room adjacent to her office.

The room had a large round table with several maps all over it. Elegant chairs surrounded the table and beautiful tapestries adorned the walls. It was the war room.

Tsunade gestured for them to sit down and they wordlessly obeyed.

"These blank scrolls are for you to write out everything you know about the remaining Akatsuki members," Tsunade said and pulled a map towards her, "I'd also like you to mark the location of the Akatsuki base."

"Bas_es_," Deidara corrected, "There are several spread across the continent."

"Nani?!" Tsunade said stunned, "How many members are left?!"

"Five members, yeah," Deidara said calmly, earning confused looks, "And about forty recruits and a trainer at each base," he finished.

"Forty recruits!" Tsunade said in disbelief.

"Yeah, do you have a pen for me to mark the map with?" Deidara asked casually.

Tsunade handed him a red pen and he marked eight places on the map.

"There are five recruits at each of these bases and one trainer," Deidara continued, "At the end of every year, we went to see how good the recruits had gotten and if any were skilled enough to be a part of the Akatsuki. We'd usually get one good enough. They should be checking in with them in a month or so, so there will only be Kisame, Konan, Itachi, Tobi, and Leader-sama who will be the regular members."

He made two more marks on the map in Rain Country.

"Now," He went on, "Those are the only two places I've seen Leader-sama, Rain Country is our main base of operations. Leader-sama even had us take on some missions from the Daimyo. You could actually say that Akatsuki is like a hidden village with Leader-sama as the kage, and the bases as the academy," He was met with raised eyebrows so he added, "Of course, with the whole world domination thing added in."

Tsunade took a look at the map he had marked, studying the locations of the bases.

"So how skilled are these recruits?" She asked.

"It really depends," Deidara responded, "If someone wants to become a recruit and has a Kekkei Genkai we immediately let them in. We hone their skills with their bloodline and their ninja skills, but some are only strong because of their bloodline and have virtually no ninja skill. Others are very strong indeed and are let in because of their great skill, and have no Kekkei Genkai. And of course there are those who are both skilled and have a bloodline; Leader-sama likes to keep those ones close so they are usually in the one of the Rain bases."

"The only one that I know the recruits personally of is the base near Iwa," He continued, pointing to the mark near Iwagakure and then writing out six names next to it, "I was in charge of testing those ones. Hibiki, Mai, Ryuu, Arata, and Hayato are the recruits there, and Hideki is the trainer."

"I'd like you to write out what you know about them as well," Tsunade said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Deidara answered, "I'll get started on that right now."

As Deidara worked on writing out the scrolls, Sakura sat in silence next to Tsunade while they both looked at the map.

"This base here," Tsunade said pointing to one a few miles away from Konoha, "How were they able to evade our detection."

"They probably put up a genjutsu," Sakura said curtly, "They _do_ have a genjutsu master with them."

"Hm…"

Tsunade excused herself after a while to go do some paperwork so Sakura went to sit by Deidara and picked up one of the scrolls he'd finished. It was accompanied by a quick sketch at the top of the paper.

Konan (Surname unknown)

Affiliation: Akatsuki

Partner: Pein (Leader-sama)

Technique/Kekkei Genkai: Origami based jutsu. She can divide her body into countless numbers of paper sheets. These sheets can be controlled individually and formed into various shapes for a number of purposes, such as butterflies for scouting or generic weapons for attack. Konan can even form wings that mirror her title as "God's Angel" amongst the villagers of Amegakure. Her abilities are constrained while wet, as paper clings to itself and loses its stiffness.

Description: Konan is the only female member of the Akatsuki. She has blue hair that is usually held up in a bun and often wears an origami flower in her hair. Her eyes are blue-green.

Sakura looked at the beautiful sketch at the top. It was quickly drawn, and simple, but perfect. She was certainly a beautiful woman as well. She suddenly felt a pang in her chest.

**Oh my god… you're jealous of this woman.**

_W-what?! Am not!_

**You so are! If you want him to draw you, just ask!**

_Later, now shut up!_

She came out of her daze to see a grinning hand waving in front of her face.

"You okay, yeah?" Deidara asked, "You kinda look zoned out."

"Oh sorry," Sakura said blushing, "This drawing is really good."

"Thanks," Deidara said smiling, then gesturing to the eleven scrolls, "I'm all done with these."

"Okay, let's take them to Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said standing up and taking five of the scrolls and the map. She piled them in her arms and could barely keep them from falling. Deidara picked up the last six and, having bigger arms, had less trouble.

Of course, this is the moment when Sakura's feet decide to get tangled together.

The map and scrolls fell from her arms and she collided with Deidara's side. He dropped his scrolls as well and they tumbled to the floor together. When Sakura came to her senses enough she saw Deidara's face inches from hers, and noticed the position they'd landed in; her back against the ground and Deidara on top of her. Her face reddened and she once again felt like Hinata.

Deidara smirked and leaned closer so she could feel his breath on her lips. Sakura turned a deeper shade of red and, before she could even say a word of protest, Deidara pressed his lips to hers.

**Eeep!**

Sakura didn't even respond to her inner self, but instead responded to the kiss and closed her eyes enjoying the feel of his lips against hers. All too soon Deidara pulled away and Sakura's eyes fluttered open.

"We should probably get these scrolls to Tsunade-sama," He whispered.

"H-hai, Dei-kun," Sakura said blushing.

Deidara stood up and offered his hand to help her up, which she gratefully took. She gathered up the map and five of the scrolls as Deidara gathered his six, and they both left the room, returning to Tsunade's office.

* * *

For those who don't know; Gomen kudasai is wh**_A_**t you say at the door to see if anyone's home. Okay, any_**W**_ays! I hop**_E_ **you liked thi_**S**_ chapter! The description of K_**O**_nan was just so_**M**_ething I felt lik_**E**_ putting in. Heh, Sakura's jealous 'cause Deidara drew her. Well anyways (Shit I say that alot...)! R&R! 


	13. Meet The Gang

Yay! Thanks again for all your reviews! Oh and I am a goddess, yes I am a girl. I love you all! Here's the next chapter for you! Oh and the "Gomen kudasai" thing; that's what it said when I looked it up and I just figured "who am I to argue with the internet?" Ah well, anyways, enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. - Picks up book "Taking Over Authorism for Dummies" -**

* * *

Repentance 

Chapter XIII: Meet The Gang

* * *

After Deidara and Sakura left the Hokage's office they set down the streets towards Ichiraku, where they'd promised to meet Naruto. When they reached the little ramen shop, not only did they see Naruto, but _everyone_: the Konoha twelve, their senseis, and Genma. 

_Apparently, when I offered to treat Naruto to ramen, he figured he might as well make me go broke!_

**Haha, sucks for you.**

_You're me too, dumb ass!_

**Oh, right…**

"Oi, Sakura-chan! Deidara-teme!" Naruto called, "C'mon!"

"Did he just call me teme, yeah?" Deidara asked Sakura.

"I believe he did…" Sakura said sweat dropping.

They walked over and Sakura greeted her friends.

"Alright, guys," She said, "This is Deidara. He's an official Konoha shinobi and I trust you will treat him as such."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He clearly didn't like the idea of an ex-member of the organization his brother was a part of being with them.

The rest responded with a simultaneous "Hai."

Everyone was so glad to have the old Sakura back, even Sasuke would comment on how happy she seemed. Genma seemed to think it was all him. Sure it was partly him, but it was Deidara as well. They didn't have to know that though.

Everyone started talking like normal, but Sakura was the only one who would start conversation with Deidara at first. Soon enough though, everyone was talking to him, asking him questions about his Kekkei Genkai and such. He steered clear of all the questions Sasuke asked about the Akatsuki. Tsunade had told them that all Akatsuki information was restricted to her and those _she_ chooses to tell.

Genma was sitting at Sakura's side with an arm around the back of the booth; Ichiraku had gotten bigger and had several tables and booths around the restaurant. If his arm moved an inch, it would be touching her.

Deidara was holding his chopsticks so tight that they nearly snapped. He glared at Genma throughout the meal.

"So Deidara-teme," Naruto said turning to the other blonde, "What made you leave Iwa."

_**Snap!**_

The poor chopsticks broke in half and everyone gulped. Ino elbowed Naruto in the side.

"What?" Naruto asked stupidly.

"Dobe…" Sasuke muttered.

"Akatsuki, yeah," Deidara said through clenched teeth, "They came to recruit me. I couldn't really say no on account of my head wanting to stay on my shoulders, but if I had the choice, I wouldn't go back. There's nothing left for me there."

"Y-you were f-f-forced to j-join Akatsuki?" Hinata asked nervously from Naruto's side.

"Yeah…" Deidara said, "But in the long run I guess it was good for me. It took me away from my revenge; helped me cool down."

"Revenge?" Sasuke inquired.

"Yeah, my clan was slaughtered," Deidara said earning a few gasps from his audience, his eyes darkened, "My sister, Katsu, and I were the only survivors. Katsu was only three, yeah, she didn't understand, so, I tried to make a normal life for her. We moved to Iwa and I became a ninja. But it wasn't long before my sister was caught experimenting with her Kekkei Genkai, yeah. She was killed on the spot. I later found out that it was the Tsuchikage that had ordered the attack on my clan. He was responsible for the death of my clan, and most importantly, yeah, my sister.

"I wanted revenge, yeah, but Akatsuki got to me before I could take it. After being away for so long, and focusing on a different goal, I was able to forget about revenge, and try to just live life as it comes to me."

When he finished everyone held a new respect for him and smiled softly at him; everyone except one of course.

"You should never forget about revenge," Sasuke said darkly, "You were given the responsibility of being an avenger for your clan, and you let them down."

"I let no one down, _Uchiha_," Deidara responded harshly, "My clan would not have wished revenge upon their killers. You know nothing of them, so I suggest you hold your tongue."

"Me?" Sasuke scoffed, "I should hold my tongue? Look who's talking, you have no right speak _or_ to be in this village. Tsunade has clearly lost her mind."

"Do not insult Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura yelled slamming her hand down on the table, "And certainly do not insult Deidara! You speak like you're _not_ the same. You damn Uchihas are all so damn proud of yourselves! _You_ left your village on a whim to become stronger. _You_ came back expecting us to all forgive you instantly. _You_ are a revenge obsessed bastard! If you want my opinion, you're _worse_!"

Everyone fell into silence at her outburst. Sasuke simply stood up and left without another word. Sakura calmed herself down and finished her meal, ordering some sake.

"Don't you think you were a little harsh?" Ino finally broke the silence.

"No, that was long overdue," Sakura said.

"Feh, the Uchiha deserved it," Deidara scoffed.

"I-I h-have to agree…" Hinata stuttered, "H-he had n-no right t-to insult y-you D-Deidara-san."

"Arigatou, Hinata-san," Deidara said flashing her a smile.

"That kid definitely had it coming," Genma added.

A few murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the table as the sake came. Each poured a glass for themselves and Naruto raised his."

"To new friends!" He said cheerfully.

Everyone smiled, clanked their glasses together, and gulped their drinks down.

_A Few Drinks Later_

"So, you're an artist, yeah," Deidara said to Sai.

"Yes, I believe that is what I would be called." Sai responded with his fake smile.

"So what is your thought on art?" Deidara asked.

"Hm," Sai thought for a moment, "I believe that art should last forever. Art is eternal."

Deidara's brow furrowed.

"Yeah?" He said, "Well I believe that art is fleeting. Art should be one burst of pure, unmatched beauty, yeah. If it was always the same, what would be the fun in that, yeah?"

"That makes no sense," Sai said, "Art should last longer than a millisecond. It should always be there to be beheld."

"Wrong, art is fleeting, yeah," Deidara persisted.

"Art is eternal," Sai responded.

"Fleeting, yeah."

"Eternal."

"Fleeting."

"Eternal."

"Shut up, Saso-"

Deidara cut himself off abruptly and smiled sadly.

"You know, I used to have this same argument with Sasori-danna, yeah." He said quietly.

Sakura felt her heart twist with guilt. She was the one who killed Sasori, a man that Deidara considered a friend.

Deidara saw Sakura sadden and turned to her to cheer her up.

Deidara spoke grinning down at her, "I mean, take for example, a Sakura Blossom. They are one of the most beautiful things in this world, yeah, yet they only last 'till the end of summer."

Sakura looked up at him and smiled, blushing a little.

Satisfied with the smile, he went back to talking to everyone, and eventually, Sakura did as well. Ino and Shikamaru had already stumbled out towards the apartment they shared and Hinata and Neji had left without drinking much to go back to the Hyuuga district. Naruto left shortly after Hinata and Neji, TenTen as well. The senseis had all gone home with someone or another. Kiba, Shino, and Chouji left soon after. The only ones remaining were Sakura, Deidara, and Genma. Though, Genma was up at the bar flirting with some girl.

Deidara was telling some more stories of Tobi's stupidity when Genma came over with a woman saying he was heading home.

"Hai, Genma-kun," Sakura said, "Get home safe."

"Please, I'm Shiranui Genma! I can defend myself in my sleep!" He boasted and then left the restaurant. He stumbled a little on his way out and Sakura shook her head.

"What about drunk, yeah?" Deidara said raising an eyebrow.

He, himself, had only had three glasses, and from years of drinking with Kisame, that was hardly a drop. Sakura was a bit tipsy after her fifth glass so he decided it would be best to take her home.

Sakura stumbled a little bit on the street and grasped Deidara's arm for support. It had long since gotten dark. They had been at Ichiraku's since 1 o'clock. Sakura was really glad that Deidara got along well with everyone. It was like he was a part of the gang. Sakura really hoped he could be.

Deidara let her cling to his arm as he led her home. He was certainly happy that he was able to get along so well with Sakura's friends. He thought back to his argument with Sai. It felt nice to have that argument like he used to with Sasori. He really missed him.

Once they got back to the house Deidara collapsed on the couch and Sakura followed suit… on his legs.

"Ow, yeah," Deidara complained.

"Oh, suck it up," Sakura said lying down along the length of the couch.

Deidara moved so that Sakura was off of his legs and he lay beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and they fell into a comfortable sleep.

* * *

Kawaii! I hope you liked this chapter! Sasuke and Deidara don't like each other, hehe. Anyways! I can't wait to show you what I have in store for Itachi too!(Frankly I don't know, but he is somehow gonna be a good guy) Anyways! (Holy shit I've gotta stop saying that!) R&R! 


	14. Awkward Moments

Thank you all so much for your reviews! Reading them is really the best part of my day! Okay, so here's the next chapter, I hope you like it! Oh, and a quick bit of vocabulary for you.

Fleeting (adjective): passing swiftly; vanishing quickly; existing briefly; temorary

**And by the way**; Deidara's twenty-four, he's been in Akatsuki for nearly nine years. (I'm making this up as I go, just work with me here)

**Disclaimer: As surprising as it may seem, I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter XIV: Awkward Moments

* * *

Sakura woke the next morning and, without memory of the previous night, the first thing on her mind was panic. The second thing on her mind, after feeling the warm arm around her waist, was more panic. Third was thankfully relief as she realized she still had her clothes on. 

Sakura tried to move out of the grasp of the man holding her, but his arms would not budge. Groaning in frustration Sakura decided she'd get a better look at the man who held her. She blushed a deep red when she turned around and saw Deidara sleeping peacefully beside her. Without his smirk in place and with that air of peace around him, he was simply…

_Breathtaking_.

Sakura brought a hand up to trace his jaw line and caress his cheek adoringly. She brushed her thumb across his soft lips. Her eyes followed her hand's every move as it moved from her face to drag along his arm. Her hand moved to his chest and she traced his finely toned muscles through his mesh shirt. Sakura gasped as she felt sudden movement and found herself pinned to the couch with misty blue eyes gazing into her own emerald orbs. He leaned down so his lips were at her ear.

"If you keep teasing like that, yeah," He whispered huskily, "I might just lose it."

Sakura's heart rate increased ten-fold as she felt something warm and wet drag along the underside of her ear. Even Inner Sakura was silent. She froze up completely when she felt his hand wander along her side, brushing her hips and resting above her pant line, tugging slightly at the material.

Feeling her tense up, he pulled away immediately and looked into her fear-filled eyes worriedly. She just stared at him wide-eyed. He jumped off the couch immediately and knelt down next to it.

"I'm sorry Sakura, yeah," He said nervously, "I didn't mean to scare you-"

Sakura seemed to snap out of it and she shot up, cutting him off with her own words.

"No, no, no!" Sakura said quickly, "I'm fine, you didn't scare me. It's just that. I've never…"

She trailed off hoping that he'd understand she'd never been that close to anyone before. He'd actually been the first person she'd held so intimately, back on those two days in the interrogation room. And that night at the bar with Genma had been her first kiss; therefore he was her second kiss. She'd never gotten very far with anyone. Sure, she'd been on a few dates… or a couple… or one……

"You've never been… intimate with someone before?" Deidara asked slowly.

"No… not really." She mumbled.

Deidara took in this new bit of information slowly.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, yeah," Deidara said, "I shouldn't have… I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, I promise!" Sakura said forcing a smile.

Sakura forced the shock and confusion to the back of her mind; everything was suddenly awkward.

"I-I'll go make breakfast or something…" Deidara mumbled quickly and left for the kitchen.

_Man, how could I have not seen something like this come? He's freakin' living with me. I mean seriously, he's how old exactly? _

**I'd say… about twenty-two or twenty-three.**

_Exactly, he's an adult; a man who has certain… desires…_

Sakura stumbled off of the couch and ran upstairs to take a quick shower.

_Okay, he was like nine or ten when his clan was killed. He lived in Iwa and became a ninja probably around the age of twelve. His sister was killed, and he stayed in Iwa and became a chuunin probably around fifteen or so. And he was with Akatsuki for… Kami knows how long he's been in that organization… probably around eight years. So he's at __least__ twenty-three._

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door and a voice coming from the other side.

"Sakura-chan, breakfast is ready," Deidara called.

"H-hai! I'll be out in a minute!" Sakura yelled back.

Deidara walked back down into the kitchen and set out two omelets on the table

_Kami, how could I be so damn stupid, yeah?! She's what? Seventeen? She said she wasn't mad but…_

**You moron! You freakin' moron, yeah! Okay, I usually don't fulfill my duty as your conscience, but man! Touching her like that was way out of line, yeah!**

_Oh, you're my conscience, yeah… I thought I'd just finally lost it and was hearing voices. _

**Focus, yeah!**

Deidara shook his head clear of thoughts when he saw Sakura walk into the room. Their eyes met for a second, but she immediately looked away. She was running her hand through her wet hair absentmindedly. She walked to the table and sat down; mumbling a "thank you" before she began to eat.

Deidara sighed inwardly and went to sit across from her. He looked up from his food every once in a while to see her staring at him, but her eyes quickly turned to her plate when she saw him looking. The silence was deafening, uncomfortable, and awkward to say the least. Deidara's "conscience" was still ranting about how he could have possibly touched Sakura like that, even though all he'd done was let his hand wander a little.

_Maybe licking her ear overstepped some boundaries though. _

**Ya think?**

_Shut up, yeah, at least my hand didn't lick anything._

Thankfully the annoying voice did in fact stop talking. Unfortunately, that only made the silence even harder to bear. They both stood at the same time, picking up their plates. They just looked at each other for a moment and then turned to put the dishes on the counter. A fork fell off of one of the plates and into the sink; both of them reached for it.

Their hands touched, but neither of them pulled their hand away. A small blush crept to Sakura's cheeks as her eyes met Deidara's. Sakura's hand covered his and held it tightly.

Before Deidara's mind, or his conscience for that matter, could process what happened, his back was against the counter and Sakura's lips were attached to his. When he was over the shock, Deidara closed his eyes and responded to the kiss gently.

They broke apart at the sound of loud banging on her door.

"_Sakura-chaaaaaan!_" The knucklehead ninja yelled.

Sakura blushed and pulled away from Deidara to go to the door.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said grinning as she opened the door, "Tsunade-baa-chan said she wanted to see you and Deidara-teme."

Sakura forced the red from her cheeks and replied evenly.

"Hai, Naruto, we'll go see her right now," Sakura said smiling.

"We're all meeting at Ichiraku tonight," Naruto continued eagerly, "You two gonna come?"

"Sure, Naruto," Sakura said.

"Awesome!" Naruto grinned from ear to ear, "See you then!"

Naruto dashed away from the house as Sakura closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

"You catch all that Dei-kun?" Sakura asked blushing.

"Hokage, Naruto, Ichiraku, yeah, got it," He replied with a smirk.

"Good," Sakura said, "Go get dressed, and let's go."

As he left Sakura's mind went into overdrive.

_Okay, so I definately like him alot..._

**You're in love.**

_He's gorgeous._

**You're in love.**

_He's caring._

**You're in love.**

_He's a great kisser..._

**You're in love.**

_He may be a pyromaniac, but flaws are the imperfection that make people perfect._

**You're in love.**

_He understands me and I understand him._

**You're in love.**

_I'm in love._

_- Hokage's Office -_

"Do you wish to participate in the Jounin Exams?" Tsunade inquired to the blonde man standing in front of her.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Deidara replied inclining his head slightly.

"I'll have the paperwork written up," Tsunade said, "You will be taking the exams alone. Usually a team would accompany you, but with your previous affiliation and status as an s-class criminal I believe it would be unfair. The jounin exams are very similar to the chuunin exams; there is a written part, a survival part, and a one-on-one battle part. There's only one issue…"

Deidara raised an eyebrow.

"The exams are not taking place in Konoha this year…" Tsunade continued, "And you know that, due to your probation, you are not allowed outside the village."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Deidara answered, not exactly knowing where this was headed.

"The probation will be lifted for the duration of the exams and Sakura will accompany you, of course," She went on, "So will several ANBU, and myself as well. Much like the Kazekage was guest for the chuunin exams Sakura took part in, I will be guest for the jounin exams. That is the only reason you are allowed to go, because I will be there as well."

"That makes sense," Deidara said, "Strengthening ties with other villages always helps. So the exams will be in Suna?"

"No," Tsunade said flatly, "They will be in another village that we have not been on so peaceful terms with…"

Finally, it clicked in Deidara's mind.

"Iwa…" He muttered.

_- Akatsuki -_

"I have received word that the jounin exams will be in Iwa this year, Pein-sama," Konan said, "The guest of honor is the Hokage. I also have received word that Deidara will be participating."

"They are allowing him out of the village so soon?" Pein replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Granted he will be in the company of the Hokage, several chuunin, and no doubt a good number of ANBU, they still are putting quite a lot of trust in him. Interesting…"

"Tobi thinks we should go to watch the exams," Tobi said, "To see if Deidara has truly decided to give his loyalty to Konoha. We should give him the option to return with us, with a minimum punishment."

"And if he refuses?" Pein asked casually.

"We kill him." Tobi said bluntly.

"Very well, we shall do as Tobi suggests," Pein said, "You are dismissed for now."

Everyone vanished from the room except for Tobi and Pein.

"Why do you think Deidara will rejoin us?" Pein asked.

"I do not," Tobi answered truthfully, "But should he lose what is binding him to Konoha, he may reconsider."

With that "Tobi" disappeared from sight, leaving Pein to ponder over what it was that bound Deidara to Konoha.

_- Itachi -_

Itachi had hidden himself in the shadows to watch the exchange between Pein and Tobi. What caught his attention the most was that Tobi didn't refer to himself in the third person. He hadn't gained anything else useful from the short conversation except for some more proof that Pein listens to Tobi's commands.

Itachi had always thought it was Pein who had put him in his current situation. But perhaps, Pein wasn't just playing dumb. Perhaps he honestly didn't know.

_Flashback_

_Itachi stood before the leader of the Akatsuki with murderous intent in his eyes._

"_Itachi-san," Pein said, "I do not have the slightest idea of what you are talking about."_

"_Play the fool if you want," Itachi said warningly, "But know this, you will pay dearly for what you have done."_

_Pein's brow furrowed._

"_Uchiha," He said in a harsh whisper, "As far as I or the entire Fire County is concerned, it was __**you**__ who committed the crime…"_

_He paused a moment then finished quietly._

"_It was __**you**__ who murdered your clan."_

_End Flashback_

Itachi's hand clenched into a fist as he left the meeting room silently. It was true for the most part. Yes, he was responsible for the Uchiha Massacre. No, he was not the one to cut his family down.

* * *

Added that bit with Itachi to the end there. Take your guesses at the 'real' story of the Uchiha massacre. He's responsible but he's not the one who killed them? Think on it. And, for those who don't know, here's another vocab word.

Pyromaniac (noun): An individul who is affected with a compulsion to set things on fire.

Anyways, I have no idea with the jounin exams, so I'm just saying they're like the chuunin exams. And they're in Iwa! Oh the irony... R&R!


	15. Confessions

Hey guys! You miss me? I bet you did! Sorry it took longer than normal to update! (though not much longer, only a day) Thanks for your patience and I hope you like the chapter that follows! Off to Iwa they go!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (No comment)**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter XV: Confessions

* * *

The Hokage stood at the entrance to the village hidden in the leaves. She had Shizune and two ANBU at her side. The chuunin stood in groups of three and there were ANBU spread throughout the group of shinobi. Tsunade's eyes turned to her student who stood by the side of the ex-Akatsuki member. Sakura was laughing at something Deidara had said while he smirked down at her.

The Hokage smiled at how happy Sakura had been lately. Tsunade didn't care to question what caused her to go back to her old, cheerful self, she was just glad that she did. When Sakura changed, it was like the whole of Konoha had lost its... radiance and youth, as Gai would have put it.

There was a big group of people, villagers and shinobi alike, there to see them all off. Several of the ANBU were Sakura's friends and were gathered around her and Deidara chatting. If Tsunade remembered correctly, the ANBU she knew were Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, TenTen, Kakashi, and Lee. The rest of her friends stood around her as well, saying their good-byes.

Tsunade's gaze flickered to Deidara and she recalled the direction the conversation had went after she told him the exams were to be in Iwa.

_Flashback – _

"_Iwa," Deidara muttered._

_Tsunade sighed._

"_I know that's probably the last place you would want to be, but the location of the exams was chosen before we even had you in custody," Tsunade said._

"_I understand," Deidara said looking up and grinning, "It can't be helped, so I'll just smile and it'll be over before I know it!"_

"_That's quite the positive attitude you've got," Tsunade said smirking, "Good to see you understand, we leave in two days."_

_Deidara inclined his head and turned to leave, but was stopped by the Hokage's voice._

"_Not so fast," She said, "I'm not done yet."_

_Deidara turned to face her with a smirk._

"_Yes Hokage-sama?" He said._

"_I'm certain the Tsuchikage will be less pleased than you are, so please," Tsunade said firmly, "Do __**not**__ provoke him."_

"_Now why on earth do you think I would do that?" Deidara said with feign hurt before disappearing out the door._

_Yes, she'd have to keep an eye on him._

_End Flashback – _

Deidara was currently thinking about the same thing as the Hokage. Could he honestly keep his promise to not do anything that just _might_ result in the Tsuchikage coming to bodily harm? Deidara smirked as many thoughts ran through his head.

**Blowing off his leg sounds good. Or, maybe, we could use a real small bomb and blow out his eye! Ooh, that's a good one!**

_Jeez, what kind of a conscience are you?_

**A fun one. I mean seriously! She gave us our clay back! We could do freakin' anything!**

Deidara sighed and finished his goodbyes to his new friends. He was still surprised that he had won them over so easily.

Sakura stood there smiling and laughing as she said farewell to her friends. It had been two days since she kissed him and things weren't uncomfortable or anything, they just really hadn't talked about it yet. Were they official? Should they keep it secret? Did she think it was just a mistake?

_No, she doesn't think it was a mistake, and neither do I!_

**Hell yeah, yeah! Wow, redundant...**

Their friends left, the ANBU took their guard positions, and they started off towards Iwa.

Six hours later –

"Iwa is another seven hours of travel ahead, we will stop and rest for the night at the town just up ahead. I've already sent a runner ahead informing them of our presence." Tsunade announced to the group.

Right on cue, the runner returned and spoke to Tsunade who nodded smiling.

"The mayor of the town has offered lodging for the night. You will be sharing a room with your teams in his mansion. ANBU will be separated into groups of three and those will share rooms." Tsunade said pleased.

It was surprising for the mayor to be so hospitable, but who was she to complain?

They received a warm welcome from the mayor when they entered the town and were escorted to his massive estate. No wonder he didn't mind letting them stay there; the place was huge. The Hokage, four groups of chuunin, and two ANBU groups would hardly fill half of the rooms.

Both Deidara and Sakura thought this would be a perfect time to lay their feelings out on the table, seeing as they would be sharing a room.

They walked to their room in silence, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. They were going to have to place a jutsu on the room to make it sound proof; Neji, Kakashi, and Shikamaru were in the room next to them. As they shut the door behind them Sakura began the jutsu but realized that Deidara was already finishing one.

For a long moment they just stared at each other; neither knowing how to begin.

"We need to talk," They said simultaneously breaking the silence.

Sakura let out a small laugh.

"You first," She said.

"Sakura-chan," Deidara started nervously. His eyes wouldn't meet hers and he couldn't get anything else out. With nothing else to do, he moved towards her and grabbed her shoulders crashing his lips to hers.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock then slowly closed as she responded to the kiss. Deidara's hands moved from her shoulders to rest on her lower arms. He broke away from the kiss and rested his forehead on hers, staring intently into Sakura's eyes.

"Sakura-chan," He began quietly, lifting a hand up to caress Sakura's cheek, "What are we?"

"I don't know," She whispered, "I was hoping you'd tell me."

"I know what I want us to be…" He said averting his gaze.

"What do you want us to be?" Sakura asked lifting her hand to his face, moving it back to look at her.

"Sakura-chan, I want you to be mine," Deidara said, "I want us to be together, I want you to be the last thing I see before I fall asleep, and the first thing I see when I wake up. Sakura-chan… I love you."

"Dei-kun…" Sakura whispered smiling softly. She pressed her lips to his for a moment then pulled away looking into his eyes, "I thought I was just going to keep living that routine life. I thought I was going to stay as what I had become. But, thanks to you, I'm truly happy again. Dei-kun, that's what I want, too. I want to be with you. I-I love you."

Deidara smirked and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, capturing her lips once more.

_- Neji, Kakashi, and Shikamaru's room -_

Kakashi sat on the windowsill wide awake. He was aware of the sound barrier on the room next to him and was worried sick for Sakura. He recognized the chakra keeping the barrier up to be Deidara's. He tried to convince himself that it was to keep noise out so they could sleep soundly.

"Kakashi-san," Neji's smooth voice spoke from next to him, "What's troubling you?"

"I'm worried about Sakura-chan," He said monotonously.

"I could check on her if you'd like," Neji said.

"No, don't disturb her rest," Kakashi said shaking his head.

"I wasn't saying I'd go over there," Neji said, "I have other ways of knowing what's on the other side of a wall."

"Would you?" Kakashi asked.

"Certainly," Neji said and made a hand seal, "Byakugan."

The Byakugan was activated for a grand total of about three seconds; in which time Neji's eyes widened considerably, and a small blush stained his cheeks. As soon as the Byakugan disappeared he turned to Kakashi with his face as emotionless as possible.

"S-Sakura-chan is quite alright," Neji said quickly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but Neji was already back in bed with the covers over his head before he could question him. Kakashi could have sworn he heard him mutter "My eyes, oh Kami, my eyes!"

_- The Next Morning -_

Sakura awoke the next morning opening her eyes slowly to take in her surroundings. She sat up slowly and the blankets fell from her chest, exposing it to the cool air. Sakura gasped and pulled the blankets up to cover herself, blushing as the morning dizziness faded and memory of the night before replaced it.

She heard a soft chuckle from the other side of the room and turned to see Deidara lounging on the windowsill smirking at her. Her blush deepened and she began to stutter incoherent words, to which Deidara laughed again. She turned and glared at him; silently telling him to shut the hell up.

Deidara stood and walked into the bathroom, and as soon as she heard the shower start to run, Sakura got out of bed and collected her discarded clothing. She sat on the windowsill as Deidara had when she woke up and gazed out the window. She didn't even notice the shower turn off and Deidara walk out of the bathroom in just his pants. Nor did she notice him come up behind her.

She did notice, with a little squeak, when Deidara lifted her up and sat down where she had and placed her on his lap. Deidara laughed quietly again. Sakura playfully hit him in the chest with the back of her hand.

"Not funny," She pouted.

"Aw, I'm sorry, yeah," Deidara said kissing the top of her head, "You know I love you."

"Yeah," Sakura said smiling, "I know."

A sharp knock on the door followed by someone walking in made her struggle a little against Deidara's tight grasp on her waist. When he didn't let go she gave up and looked up at whoever walked in, blushing madly. The thing she noticed most was that he had his hand over his eyes.

"I'm sorry if I disrupted something, but Kakashi-san is worried about you. I assured him you were fine, but he wants to know for sure," Neji said after clearing his throat a bit.

"Why w-would he be w-worried about me?" Sakura said as evenly as she could while fighting back her blush.

"He noticed a sound barrier on your room last night," Neji said evenly, hand still covering his eyes, "He asked me to check on you, so I apologize for invading your privacy and using my Byakugan to see in."

Sakura turned an even deeper shade of red as she realized why exactly Neji had his eyes covered. Deidara chuckled behind her and was silenced by the back of her hand meeting his chest, not quite as playfully as before. Sakura got up after his grip loosened.

"G-gomen, Neji-san, you can open your eyes," Sakura said, Neji complied warily, "I'll go talk to Kakashi after I take a shower."

"Hai, Sakura-san," Neji said glaring at Deidara for a moment, "And I won't tell anyone about this unless you want me to."

"A-a-arigatou, N-Neji-san," Sakura stuttered.

Deidara chuckled from the window.

"I hope you enjoyed the show, _Neji-san_, though it's a pity you couldn't hear as well," He said smirking.

Neji blushed a little and turned away, quickly leaving the room.

Sakura turned around to face Deidara with a sickly sweet smile on her face. The one he saw back when she was interrogating him in Konoha.

"Dei-kun," She said sweetly, "You die. Now."

Deidara scratched the back of his head in a Naruto-like manner as Sakura walked towards him.

Twenty minutes later Sakura walked out of the room humming a cheerful tune setting out to find Kakashi. If you looked into the room before the door was shut; you would have seen a broken wall and a small bit of smoke rising in the distance on the other side of the town, where a very unfortunate blonde had landed.

_What the hell have I gotten myself into? _He thought.

* * *

Yay! Okay, I couldn't resist doing that to poor Neji... Ah well, he'll just have to suck it up. Next chapter: Iwa - They arrive in Iwa and Deidara meets some old friends... and old enemies. Akatsuki will show up in the next chapter. Anyways! See ya in the next chapter! Ja ne! R&R! 


	16. Iwa

I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry! I can't believe it took me so long to update! I'm really sorry, but I had this project for school and then this math test. However! This is my longest chapter yet! Not THAT long, but this my longest nonetheless! In this chapter Deidara sees some familiar faces and... dun dun DUN! Flashback courtesy of Itachi. Once more I apologize profusely for the delay, and I hope you like this chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (If I did, the volumes would take three years each to come out! So sorry, again!)**

* * *

Repentance

Chapter XVI: Iwa

* * *

Deidara walked a safe distance from his cheerful partner who was humming a cheery tune as they went on towards Iwa. As the city came into view, Deidara's mood darkened greatly and Sakura walked closer to him and grasped his hand reassuringly. Deidara looked down at her and gave a small smile. 

_Just smile and it'll be over before you know it._

Deidara's smile grew and he squeezed her hand assuring her that he was alright.

The city was immense to say the least. It was at least twice the size of Konoha, and its buildings reached the skies. Sakura gaped at the city, as it was her first visit to Iwagakure.

The group approached the gates where they were greeted by the sight of several shinobi and the Tsuchikage standing in the center.

Deidara grimaced and looked away from the man in the center, focusing instead on the ground in front of him.

"You sure you can do this, Dei-kun?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I've come this far already, there's no way in hell I'm turning back now!" He said grinning, looking up straight at the Tsuchikage.

Tsunade fell back to where Deidara and Sakura were walking and spoke to them.

"Sakura," She said, "As my apprentice I believe it would be appropriate for you to stand with me while we greet the Tsuchikage.

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou," Sakura said walking up next to Tsunade as she went back to the front, with Deidara in tow.

They now stood before the massive gates and walked with Tsunade to the Tsuchikage who greeted them with a grin.

"On behalf of all of Iwagakure, I welcome you to our city, Hokage-sama," He said bowing slightly.

"It is an honor to be here Tsuchikage-sama," Tsunade said then gestured to Sakura, "This is my apprentice, Haruno Sakura."

"A pleasure to meet you Haruno-san," The Tsuchikage said taking her hand and putting his lips to it. Sakura blushed as he stepped back smiling.

"If you will follow me, your quarters for your stay here are in the Tsuchikage tower, I will lead you there," The Tsuchikage said gesturing for them to follow.

Deidara glared daggers at the man the entire time. One, the man didn't notice or recognize him; a stab at his pride. Two, he kissed Sakura's hand; that certainly didn't sit to well with him. Three, jeez do I even have to say it? This is the man who ordered the slaughter of his family for Kami's sake!

Deidara clenched his fist and raised his head as he followed Tsunade and the Tsuchikage. Sakura put a hand on his arm and looked up at him with worried eyes. Deidara looked down at her and took a deep breath. He grinned down at her and she smiled back before returning her gaze to the city before them.

They reached the tower and were led inside to some large cozy rooms. Each one had three bedrooms and a well equipped kitchen as well as a comfortable living room.

"Three to a room if you can, I would like to use as few rooms as possible and keep the rest open for the guests from other villages," The Tsuchikage said.

"Same rooming as back in Ito (A/N: I'm just making that village name up)," Tsunade told everyone; they responded with a group "Hai!"

After everyone filed into their rooms and Tsunade and the Tsuchikage left for his office, Deidara turned to Sakura with a small, sad smile.

"Wanna go see the city? I want to see how much it's changed, yeah," He asked.

"Sure," Sakura said smiling brightly and taking his hand, "Lead the way!"

Deidara grinned and pulled her down the hall next to him and towards the front door. They walked out on the street; Sakura smiling brightly and looking at all the shops, and Deidara with far-off look on his face. It wasn't like he hated Iwa; he just hated the Tsuchikage. Truth was: he missed Iwa quite a bit.

Then, the thing he had really hoped to avoid happened.

"Omigosh!" A shrilly female voice shrieked, "Dei-kun!"

"Oh shit, yeah," Deidara muttered as he turned around to face the direction the voice came from. Sakura turned as well, with a questioning look to Deidara who rubbed the back of his head in a Naruto-like manner, smiling nervously. Sakura lifted her eyes to see a kunoichi running towards her and Deidara.

The kunoichi was about the same height of Sakura and extremely skinny. She wasn't wearing shinobi attire, but she wore an Iwa hitai-ate. She wore a top similar to Ino's but in dark green instead. Her skirt was the shortest thing Sakura had ever seen, it could hardly be called a skirt, more like a small extension of the shirt. The skirt was light brown and she had a white medic apron draping over the front of it. Her eyes were a startling blue and her hair was blonde and falling to her waist; her barely covered waist.

"Dei-kun!" The girl yelled again jumping at Deidara excitedly.

Deidara moved to the side and she fell flat on her face.

"Oh my god…" Sakura said incredulously, "You have a fan girl…"

"Yeah, I do," Deidara muttered, "I figured she'd be over me by now; I've been gone for nine fucking years, yeah…"

"Dei-kun, that was mean!" The girl pouted and stood up rubbing her arm then smiled brightly holding out her arm, "Kiss it to make it better?"

"No," Deidara said flatly.

The girl pouted again and then it finally hit her.

"Omigosh! Where in the world have you been?!" She asked loudly.

"Oh, here and there, yeah," Deidara answered noncommittally.

"Well you obviously weren't _here_, so where exactly is _there_?" The girl pried.

"Ayame, I'm not entirely sure if you want to know where I've been, yeah," Deidara said.

"Ayame!" A male voice yelled as a young man ran down the street, "Why'd you run off!"

Sakura felt so out of place. She concluded that this girl used to be on Deidara's team, and had a massive crush on him. He then disappeared without warning and she most likely cried for the whole nine years he was gone and never got over him.

"Takeshi!" Ayame yelled back to the approaching shinobi.

This one was more appropriately dressed. His weapons were strapped to his legs and arms and he wore a jacket similar to the Konoha chuunin one, but it was light grey instead of green. He wore long brown and grey camouflage pants and a tight green shirt under his jacket. His hair was short spikey and brown, and his eyes were a pale green.

"Ayame what-" He was cut off by his teammate's shrilly voice.

"Omigosh look its Deidara!" The girl screeched pointing to a bored looking Deidara.

Takeshi looked over to Deidara and his eyes widened. Not because he hadn't seen him in nine years, but because he noticed what Ayame hadn't; the Konoha hitai-ate on his forehead and the scratched Iwa one on his neck.

"D-Deidara…" He said in shock, "H-how? W-why?"

"How? Simple, I left and intended to never come back. Funny how things don't work out how you plan, huh? Then this little beauty here," Deidara pointed to Sakura, "Fought me and won, taking me back to Konoha for interrogation. We made a deal and I became a Konoha shinobi. As for why; I'm here for the Jounin Exams because I was given back my status as chuunin and not as ANBU like I deserve."

"ANBU level," Takeshi said incredulously, "But how is that possible? You've been missing for nine years!"

"Yes I have," Deidara said raising an eyebrow, "Plenty of time to improve, no?"

"We thought you were dead you bastard!" Takeshi yelled.

"Well you thought wrong; it's pretty hard to kill me!" Deidara said proudly, "Never mind about that, yeah," He said looking up and grinning, "So what are you guys now? Jounin? ANBU?"

"Um…" Takeshi started, "We're kind of taking the Jounin Exams too…"

"You're chuunin…" Deidara stated.

"Yeah, isn't it awesome?" Ayame yelled, "It only took us four tries for the Chuunin Exams! Five including the one you made chuunin in."

Deidara raised an eyebrow and looked at Sakura.

"Hey, does Tsuchikage-sama realize you're here?" Takeshi asked.

Deidara scowled and clenched his fist.

"I'm not sure, either he knows and is choosing to not acknowledge my existence, or he doesn't and Hokage-sama is telling him right now, yeah," Deidara said.

"Oh…" Takeshi said, "How you think he's gonna take it?"

"Dunno, he might, as I said, just disregard my existence, or he might send assassins after me," Deidara said calmly putting a hand on his chin as if in deep thought then shrugged, "But I'm protected by Konoha either way."

"Dei-kun," Sakura said putting a hand on his arm, "It's getting late, can we go back to the room?"

Ayame's face twisted into a scowl as she noticed Sakura's presence for the first time.

"And just who are you?" She asked with a huff.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Deidara did first.

"My girlfriend, yeah," He said smirking and putting an arm around Sakura's shoulders pulling her against him. She turned a deep shade of red and smiled nervously.

"Hn, you're supposed to be a kunoichi?" Ayame said turning up her nose, "You certainly don't dress well enough to be one. I bet you're a genin!"

Snap.

In the blink of an eye Ayame was against a wall with a kunai at her neck meeting a cold emerald gaze.

"It would do you well to not insult Konoha's First ANBU Captain," She hissed.

Ayame gulped and stared wide-eyed with terror.

Sakura smirked and moved away from the wall turning to Deidara with a sweet smile.

"Let's go Dei-kun," She said sweetly.

"Hai, Sakura-chan, see you guys at the exams" Deidara said putting an arm around her and heading back to the Tsuchikage building.

_- Akatsuki -_

Itachi and Kisame stood on the roof of the Tsuchikage tower cloaked by the pitch black night. Kisame yawned with a bored expression as Itachi maintained his cold disinterested look. His 'training' from his younger years had given him that.

_Uchiha_

That so-called 'training' was meant to put up barriers around his heart and to make him not trust anyone. He was to be the perfect, heartless killing machine. That's what they wanted; that's what they got.

_Prodigy_

He was expected to be perfect. He was expected to make no mistake and have no flaw. Since he was four he was given harsh training. He was told he was a 'prodigy' and he was gifted. People envied him.

_Genius_

He was told he was the most intelligent and promising ninja. But even with every accomplishment, the clan always wanted more. He was always told by his father that he made him proud, but then always told him he had to be better.

_Power_

Shisui had asked him once if he wanted power or strength. He told him he wanted strength. Shisui had said he wanted strength as well.

He lied.

_- Flashback - _

_Itachi stood in the clearing near the small river. There was an ANBU meeting that day, but right then he didn't care. He felt a chakra source behind him and recognized it as his friend's. He figured he had come to take him to the meeting. He wouldn't go no matter what Shisui said, though._

"_Shisui, it's good to see you," Itachi said with a small smile tugging at his lips._

_To Itachi's surprise Shisui didn't speak. He still felt the presence a few feet behind him. When he finally did, the voice was so cold that a shiver ran down Itachi's spine._

"_ANBU at thirteen, you've surpassed me," He said._

_Itachi turned to see his friend in his ANBU gear. His aura was threatening; murderous even. Itachi stood on guard, ready to defend himself. _

"_Interesting thing, though," The man continued holding up a scroll with the Uchiha crest on it, "I don't believe you will be above me for much longer."_

_Itachi fell into a defensive position as Shisui moved into an offensive one. Both had their sharingan activated. Shisui disappeared and reappeared beside Itachi who dodged a blow only to fall into a rain of shuriken. He deflected them all and jumped away making the hand signs for his Gaton no justu. Flame erupted from his mouth shooting towards Shisui. His leg was caught in the flame and his movement was impaired. _

_Itachi roughly pinned Shisui to a tree, kunai at his neck._

"_What is the meaning of this?" He asked his 'friend'._

"_Mangekyou," The one word was spoken as if he were referring to a god. The scroll was lying on the ground and Itachi took a second to steal a glance at it._

"_Shisui what is this scroll? Why are you attacking me?!" Itachi demanded._

_Shisui didn't speak. He disappeared and reappeared behind Itachi with a kunai aimed at his heart. Itachi easily evaded it and it began. The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out through the clearing. _

_**In the world of shinobi it is kill or be killed.**_

_Itachi finally decided to stop his attacker and retrieve the scroll; no matter how close of a friend Shisui was. _

"_Shisui… gomen." _

_Creating a water vortex jutsu he sent it at Shisui who was still recovering from another attack. He was caught off guard and was swept away, drowning in the water. A pang in Itachi's heart stopped him in his tracks as he walked towards the scroll. He'd just killed his best friend. _

_- End Flashback - _

His fist unconsciously clenched at the memory of his friend's betrayal. He was brought from his thoughts by Tobi jumping up onto the roof.

"Tobi is sorry he took so long!" He said cheerfully, "But Tobi found what he was looking for."

"You saw Deidara?" Kisame asked.

"Yes, Tobi found his room," Tobi responded, "Tobi saw a pretty pink-haired lady with him."

"Hey isn't that your little brother's teammate?" Kisame asked turning to Itachi, "The one who killed Sasori. I can't believe Deidara's within ten feet of the girl, he idolized the puppet-freak."

Itachi replied with a short "Hn," and turned to take his leave.

"Tobi wonders where Itachi-senpai is going," Tobi said.

"I won't be gone long," Itachi said and disappeared in a flock of crows.

Tobi disappeared soon after to report to Pein leaving Kisame on the roof; who promptly pulled out a bottle of sake.

"Pein," 'Tobi' said appearing in the darkness, "I have discovered what binds him to Konoha, I will take action myself."

"Hai," Pein responded monotonously, "What is it?"

"A woman," 'Tobi' responded simply.

"Of course…" Pein said sighing, "It's always a woman."

"I would also like it if you kept a close eye on Itachi; something's been off about him recently," 'Tobi' finished.

"He has, has he?" Pein said, "I have noticed his different behavior during our meetings. I'll send Konan to keep an eye on him."

"Good," 'Tobi said, "I will take my leave now, Pein."

"Hai…" Pein responded, "Uchiha-sama."

* * *

I'm sorry again and I hope you liked this chapter. Next time is the beginning of the Jounin Exams and a run in with Akatsuki, maybe another bit of Itachi's (my version anyway) true past! I'll see ya then! R&R! 


	17. Jounin Exams Part One

I'm once again very sorry for the late update and the lack of size, but I've been having a severe case of writer's block. I know where I want this to go, I just don't know how to get there. I'll try my best, but I can't guarentee quick updates until I've got my mind going again. Okay, there's a tiny DeiSaku moment at the end, but this is mostly plot chapter. The Jounin Exams will go into the next chapter as well. So now...

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; Sasuke would be dead, Itachi would be back in Konoha, and Sakura and Deidara would be together if I did.**

* * *

Repentance 

Chapter XVII: Jounin Exams Part One

* * *

"Each of you here have shown exemplary skill and have developed your own jutsu, therefore gaining you the privilege to participate in these exams," The proctor for the first part of the exam said, "I can tell you that it will not be easy for any of you. This part of the exam will test the power of your mind and spirit. This test consists of ten questions. No cheating; if you are caught cheating you will fail. Also, you have only thirty minutes to answer the questions, if you don't have all of the questions at least answered, wrong or right, you will fail. Any questions?" 

A hand shot up; it was Ayame.

"Sir, you can't be serious, thirty minutes is not nearly enough time," She said.

"I am entirely serious," The proctor said, "While on a mission, time is always a factor, you will have to do rapid calculations and think quickly. As a jounin you will frequently lead teams, so you will be the one making the orders and do the planning. Any other questions?"

_So this is to see how well you can think on your feet, and how a limited time affects your thought process._

Deidara smirked at how easy this was going to be. He always went in without a plan and wings it. He's the master of thinking on his feet.

"You may begin," The proctor said after he saw there were no more questions.

Deidara immediately began writing. The questions were difficult, but they were mostly scenario questions; if you were in this situation what would be your first course of action and such.

He finished the ninth question and noticed that there wasn't a tenth. Everyone was still writing furiously, Deidara was the first done. He looked up at the proctor who locked eyes with him. Deidara's eye narrowed.

_The tenth question has to be answered, but there isn't one. Think Deidara, think. _

He looked around and saw some of the chuunin flipping their tests around with panicked expressions. Deidara was less panicked and looked at the clock. Five minutes were left. He studied the sheet in front of him. There was a space at the bottom of the page that had chakra infused in it. It wasn't a simple illusion that could be released.

Deidara glanced at the clock again. Two minutes left. The jutsu on the paper, he realized, was set to be released at a certain time. He looked at the clock again, then back at the proctor who regarded him with a smirk. One minute left. He scowled at looked back at the page. The chakra in the sheet faded away and the tenth question was revealed with thirty seconds left. He heard some panicked writing and some relieved sighs from around the room as he quickly answered the question.

"Time's up," The proctor said, "Konoha team eleven, Iwa team eight, Taki team five, and Ame team thirteen failed for cheating."

Twelve people stood up with annoyed expressions and were escorted out.

"Iwa team twelve, Ame teams four and ten, Taki team seven, and Suna team six failed for not completing all of the questions."

Fifteen more chuunin left with annoyed expressions mostly aimed at the member of their teams who had not finished.

"The rest of you pass, congratulations," The proctor said with a smile. There were some relieved sighs from around the room. There were thirteen teams left in the room; thirty-nine chuunin and one S-class criminal in all. Deidara had long since been replaced on his old team so that team was a full three people.

"Your next exam will be tomorrow. You are all to gather at the gates to the Forbidden Grove at six am. It will be a test of survival," The proctor said, "You are all dismissed, good luck tomorrow."

Deidara was the first to stand up and walked straight to the door. He left with a smirk on his face as the other chuunin stood to do the same.

"Dei-kun!" A shrill female voice shouted as Ayame ran up to him and latched onto his arm.

"What the hell do you want?" He asked annoyed.

"I passed!" She squealed.

"Congratulations, you want a cookie or a medal?" Deidara sneered.

"I'd take a kiss," Ayame said winking.

"No," Deidara deadpanned.

"Dei-kun, you're mean!" She pouted.

"Do you want your arm blown off?" He asked giving her an irritated look.

"Ayame," Takeshi's voice cut it, "He just got back; did you maybe think he wants to be left alone?"

"No one can bear to stay without _my_ company!" Ayame said turning her nose up, "Right, Dei-kun?"

Ayame noticed her arm was no longer attached to anything.

"Dei-kun?" She called looking around.

Snickering came from behind them and they turned to face their last teammate.

"Ketsu," Ayame groaned as she turned to face the dark-haired ninja.

"Hello, little hana," Ketsu said with an eerie smile.

Ketsu had shoulder-length raven hair with bangs that fell along his forehead. He wore tight fitting grey pants and an equally tight black shirt with a wide collar. He had a med-pouch at his hip and several weapon pouches strapped to his leg as well as a katana at his waist. A pair of glasses rested on the bridge of his nose that constantly needed to be pushed back into place.

"What do you want?" Ayame asked.

"I merely wish to ensure that my comrades will be adequately equipped for the succeeding division of the Jounin Exams tomorrow," He said adjusting his glasses.

Ayame blinked.

"Translation; are you all set for the test tomorrow?" Takeshi said sighing.

"Oh, right, yeah, I'll go pack some medical supplies," Ayame said before rushing off. Takeshi sighed again and followed after her. Ketsu adjusted his glasses before disappearing into the streets.

_Akatsuki_

"The base on the outskirts of Iwa has been attacked by leaf shinobi," Pein said to the images of the Akatsuki members, "My patience with Deidara's treachery is wearing thin. We will have to relocate all of our bases."

Pein clenched his fists and glanced over at Tobi.

"Tobi thinks we should approach him during the second part of the exam, tomorrow in the Forbidden Grove. No one will find us," Tobi said.

"Yeah?" Kisame sneered, "Well I'm think _Tobi_ needs to stop calling the shots."

"Tobi thinks Kisame should be nicer," 'Tobi' said.

Itachi stood to the side, barely listening. He was concentrating on keeping a torrent of memories at bay.

_Flashback_

_Itachi sat by the river Shisui had attacked him at, staring at the reflection in the water of his strange new Sharingan. _

_He brought out a kunai holding it to his own neck. Just as he was about to end his own life, a hand clasping a scroll caught his eye. It was the scroll that Shisui had the night he attacked him. He raised his eyes to see a man with a plain black mask with one narrow slit. The man was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. He had a hood over his head and he wore black gloves. _

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you, Uchiha Itachi," The man said holding the scroll up, "What you've just obtained is a great power."_

_Itachi just stared up at the man. He'd lost all desire to live; there was hardly any in the first place. _

"_I do not care for power," Itachi said._

"_Interesting," The man said, "Nevertheless, you will be coming with me."_

"_And why would I be?" Itachi asked._

"_I have need of your power," The man replied._

"_And if I refuse?" Itachi said._

"_You shall lose something precious," The man said._

"_There is little left I find precious," Itachi whispered looking at the kunai in his hand._

"_Really?" The man asked, "What about your little brother?"_

_Itachi looked up with alarm. It was true; Sasuke was one of the only things he cared about. _

"_You will lie dead before you touch him," Itachi hissed._

"_You think you can stand in my way of killing him?" The man asked with amusement._

"_You won't touch him," Itachi repeated._

"_Perhaps you need to be convinced of my power," The man said._

_With that he vanished._

_Itachi put his kunai back in his weapon pouch and stood. There was no way that man was going to touch his brother._

_End Flashback_

"Itachi!" Pein yelled, breaking him out of his reverie.

"Hai?" Itachi said looking up emotionlessly.

"Pay attention," Pein snapped, "You will go confront Deidara along with Kisame, while Tobiand Konango to the remains of the old base, understood?"

"Hai," He said and left with a fuming Kisame.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Pein said to Tobi when Konan left as well.

"You doubt me?" He asked.

"Certainly not," Pein said quickly.

"Then do as I command," 'Tobi' hissed, "Deidara is vital to our organization."

"He seems like an idiot to me," Pein said, "He captured the Shukaku, but he is too impulsive, and easily driven by emotion. How is he important?"

"You shall see," 'Tobi' said, "For now you must wait though."

The mysterious, masked Uchiha left without another word.

"Uchiha Madara," Pein muttered, "I will find out what you're hiding."

_Iwa_

Deidara leaned against the broken fence with his eyes on a swing hanging from a tree.

"_Dei-niisan, I want to go higher!"_

He almost could see the little blonde girl sitting on it as a young Deidara pushed the swing. A lone tear slid down his face as a sad smile tugged at his lips.

A small house, more accurately described as a shack, sat near the tree with shattered windows and broken walls. It wasn't the greatest place, but it was home for him and his sister.

Deidara felt a hand on his arm and looked over to see that Sakura had joined him. She looked up at him with a sad smile and wiped away the one tear that had fallen. She let her hand linger on his face for a short while before turning to lean on the fence next to Deidara. Her eyes followed his line of sight to a swing.

She could almost see him smiling and pushing his little sister on it.

Fate was cruel to the best of people.

A warm hand brushed away a stray lock of her hair and she turned to see Deidara facing her with a smile.

"Let's head back, yeah," He said quietly.

"Right," Sakura said as he draped his arm over her shoulders and led them back to the Tsuchikage building.

* * *

Thanks for reading! And yes, Tobi is Madara, but that's not all, no that is certainly not all. There's even more to him. Okay, this Ketsu guy's character is loosely based on Kabuto; Ketsu means Exellence,_**but**_ it also means...Ass. Also, Tobi said Deidara is vital to the organization, but honestly I have no freakin' clue what its going to be that makes him so important. I will think on it all. 'Till then, Ja ne! R&R! 


	18. Jounin Exams Part Two: Interruption

First order of business... reads to do list what? ... beg for forgiveness for going for weeks without an update? Screw that... Tears up to do list... oh crap... what's next... Um... OH RIGHT!!

**SPOILER ALERT FOR MANGA CHAPTER 398: **Okay, so yeah, anyone who read that chapter or is reading what I am typing right now, holy fucking shit that was freaking awesome I knew Itachi was a good guy I just knew it. May he rest in peace.

**SPOILER OVER**

Okay, um... maybe I should go back to number one... PLEASE FORGIVE ME!! I'M SOOOOOO SORRY!! School has left me a wreck and I've got massive writers block here. I won't be updating quickly until summer vacation. Sorry again.

SO... without further ado... enjoy chapter eighteen!

Repentance

* * *

Chapter XVIII: Jounin Exams Part Two

Deidara woke the next morning with Sakura at his side. There were two more beds in the room, but they only needed the one. He sighed and stroked her hair for a while until he felt her stir. She smiled and opened her eyes to meet his.

"Ohayou, Dei-kun," She said quietly and snuggled closer to him.

"Ohayou, Sakura-chan," He said and looked over at the clock.

"Kuso!" He cursed when he saw it was almost time for the second part of the Jounin Exam. Sakura squealed when he quickly left her arms and nearly fell onto the floor.

"I'm late!" He shouted as he dressed and secured his weapons and clay to his waist.

Sakura shot up and quickly dressed as well. Unlike the Forest of Death, there were cameras and such set up throughout the Forbidden Grove so the teachers could watch. Sakura wanted to make sure she could watch as well.

Sakura and Deidara disappeared from the room and reappeared in front of the rest of the chuunin at the gates to the Forbidden Grove.

The grove was probably the only place in Iwa with forest. It was odd that the trees grew there and there were many dangerous creatures that lurked inside. It was more dangerous than the Forest of Death because the trees in the grove managed to manipulate chakra and create genjutsus to confuse any who enter into getting lost and made prey to the creatures inside.

Some people gasped in surprise as they appeared in front of them. Few knew the jutsu used to teleport.

"Sorry we're late," Sakura said bowing and making her way over to the other teachers and the Kages.

Deidara remained where he was and entered a glaring contest with the Tsuchikage. Obviously he'd been told who Deidara was. The proctor spoke up.

"Alright you little maggots," She yelled, "Here's what's gonna happen!"

The woman reminded Sakura of Mitarashi Anko; which is not a good thing a lot of the time.

"Each team will be given a scroll. There are two different scrolls, a psyche scroll and a strength scroll. They will be divided amongst the teams so that there will be seven of each scroll out there. Inside the scrolls are jutsus that you must learn in order to pass. In the center of the grove there is a temple where you must use the jutsus to enter. You must obtain both scrolls, and learn both jutsus. You may have one member learn both or you can have one learn one and another learn the other. Either way someone must know them and perform them correctly."

The Anko-look-alike, as dubbed by Sakura, looked out over the crowd of chuunin to make sure they understood.

"Use any dirty trick you know to get the right scroll from the other team," She said, "If there are no questions then as we call your team you will come up to receive your scroll."

She walked over to a covered booth and began calling out the teams.

"Deidara of Konoha!" She yelled last.

Deidara walked over with a smirk still adorning his features. The Anko-look-alike eyed him for a moment before handing him the scroll and shooing him away.

"Everyone get to your assigned gates and be ready for my signal," She called when he returned to the group.

Deidara's gate was next to his old team's,

"So this is the shinobi that I have replaced?" Ketsu asked eying Deidara.

"What's it to ya, yeah?" Deidara asked sparing him a glance.

"I merely wish to inquire into the extent of your abilities," He said.

"Oh, you'll see," Deidara said with a smirk.

"Ready?" Anko-look-alike yelled, "Begin!"

Sakura watched the gates fly open and Deidara disappear into the grove.

_Good luck_

**Not that he'll need it!**

Deidara dashed straight ahead before taking a sharp turn and making a hand sign.

"You asked to see my abilities," Deidara said with a smirk, "That's what you'll get. Katsu."

**Bang!**

Deidara's old team was caught in the explosion and his three targets were knocked out. He walked out into the clearing and over to Takeshi. Reaching into their pack he withdrew the scroll and sighed. It wasn't the scroll he needed.

Deidara debated on whether or not to leave them the scroll for when they woke up, but decided against it. Iwa didn't need weaklings like them as jounin. Pocketing the scroll he took off towards the center of the grove.

Sakura watched the screen and could see Deidara debating with furrowed brows whether to leave the scroll or not. She was glad he decided to not leave the scroll with them. After he left the clearing she saw Ketsu leap up and sprint after Deidara.

A good distance away Deidara smirked as he felt the oncoming chakra signature.

_So he's gonna put up a fight._

Deidara stopped in a small clearing and turned around to see Ketsu shooting out of the bushes towards him with medical chakra gathered in his hand. Deidara's brow furrowed as he dodged the blow.

_He's going to try to disable me._

Ketsu looked at him with an eerie smile that reminded him of Sai. He shuddered at the thought.

"Tell me," Deidara said as he dodged another attack from Ketsu with ease, "Do you understand art?"

"Why are you speaking of such pointless things?" Ketsu questioned fixing his glasses.

"Of course you don't… pity," Deidara said with a slight frown, "Then let me tell you one of the basic principles."

Ketsu's brow furrowed with confusion as he fell into a defensive position at the sight of Deidara's single hand sign.

"Art is a bang," Deidara said with a grin, _"Katsu."_

Ketsu quickly performed a series of hand signs as explosions consumed the small clearing. He slammed his hands to the ground creating a small chakra shield around himself as the blasts neared him.

The smoke cleared and he let his chakra shield fall. Looking around, Deidara was nowhere in sight.

"Ketsu!" Takeshi's voice rang through the clearing.

Ketsu turned to see Takeshi and Ayame come out of the trees and look around frantically.

"Who attacked us?" Ayame demanded.

"That would be me, yeah," Deidara's voice came from above.

They all looked up to see him perched upon a clay bird smirking.

"Dei-kun, you could have killed us!" Ayame screeched.

"Duh," Deidara said with a grin, "That's the point, yeah."

"I remember you know," Ketsu said pushing his glasses into place, "Deidara; missing-nin. Nine years ago you left and joined the criminal organization known as the Akatsuki. You specialize in explosives and are a member of the Tsukurite clan. Previous partner; Akasuna no Sasori, specializes in puppets and is the murderer of the Third Kazekage. Current partner; Tobi, specialization unknown. You yourself murdered the Sixth Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, though he was revived by the medics Chiyo and Haruno Sakura, the kunoichi who killed your partner Sasori and has accompanied you here."

Deidara let out a laugh and applauded Ketsu.

"Very good!" He said with mock praise, "Someone did their research, yeah!"

"D-Deidara," Takeshi said with wide eyes, "Y-you… A-Akatsuki."

Deidara's mouth twisted into a smirk as Ayame looked like she was about to run away screaming and Takeshi looked almost too horrified to speak.

"Although I have turned over a new leaf, and have jumped back over to the 'good side', yeah, nine years with Akatsuki is a _long _time… And it's just been too long since I've killed someone, yeah. Old habits die hard!"

Deidara broke out in a sinister grin as he made a hand sign, intent on finishing them off with the microscopic bombs they unknowingly inhaled during Ketsu's speech.

"Kat-"

"Deidara," A cool voice said from behind him.

Deidara froze and his eyes widened as he recognized the voice immediately.

"Uchiha," He sneered without turning to face him.

"Dei!-" Takeshi started to call out only to be knocked out.

Ayame and Ketsu fell to the ground as well from a blow from Samehada.

Deidara lashed out behind him only to meet air. He looked down from his perch to see Itachi reappear next to his shark-like partner.

"What the hell are you doing here, yeah?!" Deidara yelled.

"Now, now, Deidara," Kisame said with a grin, "Just come quietly and we won't have to hurt you."

"Like hell I will!" Deidara yelled sending bombs towards them.

The explosions rang out and were dodged by the two Akatsuki members.

"Deidara!" A female voice yelled as Sakura came into the clearing.

"Stay out of this Sakura!" Deidara yelled from above.

"Well, look at what we have here," Kisame said, "A leaf ANBU. Can I kill her?"

"No," Itachi said emotionlessly, "She is important in Deidara's return. I will capture her, you take Deidara."

Kisame lunged at Deidara with his Samehada as Itachi faced off against Sakura. Sakura shut her eyes and used her own chakra to track movements.

Sakura waited for Itachi to make the first move, and they both stood still for a long while. Growing impatient, Sakura lashed out with a chakra-laden fist. Itachi dodged to the side and shot out several kunai at her exposed back as her fist smashed into the tree behind him.

She jumped out of the way and the kunai embedded in the shattered remains of the tree. She spread out her chakra to find Itachi and found his chakra signature on a tree branch behind her. She turned and shot out kunai towards him. He dodged easily and sent a Katon jutsu her way. She jumped out of the way to fall in a hail of shuriken. Quickly, she did a replacement justu and lashed out at Itachi again with fist and foot. They exchanged blows, each of them dodged with flawless grace.

Jumping back, Sakura performed the necessary hand seals and shot into the air and put her hand to her mouth. Several cherry blossoms shot out towards Itachi at break-neck speed. One caught him on the cheek and blood dripped from the shallow cut. Another tore into his right arm, giving a deeper cut, and another shot straight into his abdomen. He jumped out of the flurry of cherry blossoms masked his chakra, hiding in the ground.

Sakura came back to the ground, panting at the exertion from the jutsu. She'd created it herself quite recently, and it was less than perfect. It used too much chakra, but the flurry was difficult to dodge. Of course, not so difficult for one with the speed her opponent possessed.

Sakura heard several explosions and risked opening her eyes to check on Deidara's battle with Kisame. They were chasing each other around the clearing, Kisame taking sweeps with his Samehada, Deidara sending out his explosives. Puddles were scattered around, indicating Kisame using some of his water jutsu.

Sakura shut her eyes again and concentrated on locating Itachi's chakra signature. He had hidden it well, and Sakura had to reopen her eyes to get any indication of where he was. After eliminating the other directions, down was her only option. Gathering chakra in her fist she split the earth, revealing a severely bleeding Itachi.

Thoroughly irritated, Itachi shot out at her with a kunai in hand. Metal clashed for a long while and Itachi, knowing he couldn't use a technique that could kill her, was frustrated. He had lost a severe amount of blood and Sakura was depleted of most of her chakra.

Pein had decided that he wanted both alive; Deidara back in Akatsuki, and Sakura as leverage to keep him there. Itachi was inwardly angered by it, reminded of his own entrance to Akatsuki.

_Flashback_

_Itachi was just coming home from a mission. He hadn't wanted to take it, but since Shisui's death and the suspicion people had of him (not unfounded) made him hesitant to refuse. It was only two days, but he was uneasy of leaving Sasuke alone in the village. Sure he had the rest of the clan to protect him, but their false strength and arrogance was nothing. _

_As Itachi reached the gates to the Uchiha compound he was instantly met with the smell of blood. Taking a quicker pace he sped through the streets, passing corpses of his family members, only caring about finding his brother. _

_He reached his own house and found the faint chakra signature of his parents in a room with another strong, no, overwhelming one. Sliding the door open he saw his dying parents on the ground with the masked man behind them._

"_You didn't believe me," He said, "So now I have shown you."_

"_You bastard," Itachi spat._

"_Now, now, Itachi," The man said with amusement, "Aren't you the bastard here? You did kill your clan after all."_

_With a dark laugh, the man cast a genjutsu and he was replaced by the mirror image of Itachi._

"_And so I will take what is most precious to you," He said in Itachi's voice, "He will hate you, despise you. He won't believe any 'false' pleas of innocence. And he will be defenseless. I could kill him any time. No matter where he goes, no matter how strong he gets, he will always be at my mercy. I will see you soon now Itachi. I hope you have put some thought into my proposal. Goodnight."_

_Itachi's eyes widened slightly as he was cast into the Tsukiyomi world by the masked man. _

_When he woke, he was greeted by an overly cheerful man in an orange mask who said that 'Leader-sama' was expecting him and that he should see him right away. _

_End Flashback_

Itachi's fist clenched around the kunai as a familiar presence made itself known.

"Hullo!" Tobi greeted cheerfully.

I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to work _**F**_ast so don't give up _**O**_n me yet. Itachi's sto_**R**_y is done, the jounin exams are _**G**_o_**I**_ng "smoothly". Forgi_**VE**_ _**M**_y late updat_**E**_ and R&R.


	19. Tobi

Okay... that took ALOT longer than I thought it would, but I'm finally over my writer's block! You know what did it? I saw "The Dark Knight" today and it inspired me to write something good! Btw it was a phenominal movie that you absolutely must see. Okay, so its not my longest chapter ever, but its here, I would have continued but I wanted to end there because it was a moment the whole chapter built up to that it needed to end with. Moving on I'd like to apologize for the horribly late update, but I know what I'm doing now and this should be the second to last chapter, I am almost done!

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: As you have read, I am almost done, which means I shall be starting another. There will be a prequal and sequal to this that I am going to make but I am going to write something else first! The is a poll in my profile and the description of SIX different stories I may write. It's YOUR CHOICE! Vote on which I should do, please, so far out of the votes I've gotten people like the one called Obsession of a Madman the most, it is PeinxSaku! It's winning and honestly I've been dying to write a darkish fic and its my perfect opportunity, so please vote against it if you really don't want to see such a completely unbelievable couple, and if you do then yay, I get to write my dark fic! Anyways, please vote, thank you reading Repentance and I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, just like the many other time I have said, and I will likely not ever own it so sorry people, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi ain't comin' back to life, Hidan isn't gonna be dug up, and... Well I don't like Kakuzu, so sorry he'd prolly stay dead even if I did own it... Oh and Sasuke would suffer greatly... Mwahahaha... haha... ha... read the damn story already -.-".

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Repentance

Chapter IXX: Tobi

"We must hurry up! Leader-sama is getting impatient and ANBU are headed our way."

"All you Uchihas insist on making my life miserable don't you?" Sakura spat as she jumped away from Itachi and glared at the masked man.

"Tobi is Tobi," He said innocently, "Tobi really needs you to come with us, though, please don't make this hard. Tobi promises to be nice if Sakura-san is. Tobi's a good boy."

"Oh, great," Deidara said from the other side of the clearing, "The idiot's here, I'm _so_ scared."

"Watch it Deidara," Sakura said, "Tobi's not what meets the eye."

"No, he's not,"

Sakura turned to regard the person who spoke curiously. It was _Itachi_.

Before Sakura had time to ponder it, two ANBU burst into the clearing. Sakura immediately recognized the mop of silver hair, and long brown locks. Itachi seemed to have lost interest in their fight as he stood back to watch the scene unfold as he used a simple medical ninjutsu to stem the bleeding of the wound in his abdomen.

Kisame noticed Itachi's retreat and made ready to do the same, taking one last swipe with his Samehada and jumping to Itachi's side.

"Sakura-chan!" Kakashi called as he came to her side, "What's going on?"

"They've come to take Deidara back," Sakura said.

"And they intend to use Sakura-chan to do it," Deidara spat as he came to them as well.

Kisame regarded the masked shinobi warily. It was obvious that Itachi had grown suspicious of Tobi over the years. If Itachi was suspicious, he was suspicious. That was how it worked. Kisame would follow Itachi even if it led him to betrayal of the Akatsuki, which he could tell wasn't far off. He would remain loyal to Itachi if it killed him.

Kisame cast his partner a worried glance, though his worry for the Uchiha was well concealed, before facing the masked shinobi again.

Right now, it was three against four, Akatsuki was outnumbered, but Konoha was outmatched. But soon that might change; it could quickly become a battle of three different factions if Tobi made one wrong move, or spoke one wrong sentence proving Itachi's suspicion.

Sakura looked at how Itachi was eying the new arrival, Tobi, the Uchiha. So Itachi knew it as well? And by the way he was looking at Tobi, he didn't like it. This was an interesting turn of events. The Uchiha obviously disliked 'Tobi', but it probably wasn't possible to sway him to their side with his Uchiha blood; he'd never accept the help of another, and his lust for power may keep him from acting upon his hatred of the other strange Uchiha.

"Tobi is sorry it has to be like this," Tobi said sadly, "Now Tobi has to hurt you. Tobi really didn't want to hurt Deidara-sempai."

A pain erupted in 'Tobi's' mind and a clear, rather annoyed voice broke through.

**You won't hurt Deidara as long as I'm here!**

Ah, the fool speaks, Madara pondered. He had thought he'd silenced him long ago. It was the boy's fault at the position he was in. He had accepted Madara's help in order to live, and in exchange lost his body as a vessel. The child was a nuisance, always speaking up at the most inopportune moments. He had tried numerous times to break his will, but it seemed he would never have full control over the boy.

_Little fool, remember, I decide whether you live or not._

**I would rather die than abandon my friends!**

_Deidara is not your friend, he is Tobi's_

**You know full well that Tobi is both of us**

_Tobi was the entity created when our minds clashed; an unfortunate setback, but easy to control_

**As easy to control for you as for me, Tobi is as much myself as I am**

_Fools, the both of you_

Madara ignored the pain and attacked Deidara. He dodged and remounted his clay bird, soaring into the air. Sakura stood back, depleted of chakra, Kakashi took on Kisame and Neji attempted to engage Itachi in battle, but he would only dodge and keep his eyes trained on 'Tobi'.

Deidara launched explosives from his perch at Tobi, but every time it seemed like he had him, Tobi would reappear without a burn on him. Sakura watched each battle, as she rested. Neji wasn't able to coerce Itachi into a fight, and Kakashi was quickly gaining the upper hand against Kisame.

Deidara was getting annoyed. He had been partners with the idiot for two years, yet was never able to learn his fighting style.

Itachi had decided. He was going to use this situation to his advantage and attack Madara. Deidara could hold his own for long enough to weaken Madara a little, enough for Itachi to be able to attack him. He knew Kisame would stand by him, and some of the Konoha shinobi in the clearing may throw in their two cents against Madara, especially the pink haired one who, it seemed, had learned of who Tobi really is.

Kisame was having a hard time against the Copy-nin but knew he had to stay up and conserve his chakra for the fight he knew was coming. Kisame fell into the defensive dodging when necessary but not fighting back, as his partner was doing. He had known Deidara since he became Akatsuki and could admit the kid was good, and it was obvious there was something more to him seeing as they were trying to get him back instead of killing him for his betrayal.

Sakura leaned against a tree trying to regain her strength when she noticed a shifting in her vision.

_What is this?_

Another explosion caught her eye and she saw a frustrated Deidara throwing more explosives at Tobi, she narrowed her eyes as Tobi disappeared and reappeared behind Deidara bringing him into close combat.

Sakura's eyes widened and tears stung at them blurring her vision at what she saw next.

Tobi had drawn a katana and drove it through Deidara's heart. She tried to scream out but nothing came from her mouth. Deidara fell from the sky, plummeting quickly towards the ground. Tobi leaped down and came towards her.

It didn't make sense, weren't they trying to take him alive? Why did they kill him?! Why did he die?!

Tears flowed down her cheeks and she silently screamed as Tobi came at her with his katana raised.

Her eyes widened as she looked up.

"You're not real," She whispered, "Kai!"

The forest's genjutsu fell and the scene before her returned to normal. Deidara was still fighting Tobi, he was still alive. Relief swept over her at the same time as panic took her. The forest was creating genjutsu, which meant the others were trapped as well.

"Kakashi-sensei! Neji-san! Deidara-kun!" Sakura yelled, "The forest is creating genjutsu; be on the look out for it!"

Deidara nodded and turned back to his fight, wary of the forest surrounding them. Even nature was against him.

Tobi disappeared and reappeared on the bird behind him. Deidara jumped off of the clay structure and onto a tree branch forming a hand sign and muttered "Katsu" before leaping off the branch to the ground.

The bird exploded and Tobi seemed to be caught in it but Deidara was not so lucky. Tobi reappeared in front of him throwing a punch at his gut. Deidara stumbled backwards and his back hit to tree behind him.

Tobi raised his kunai but suddenly froze.

"**No**" Tobi whispered, "**No, you can't kill him!**"

Deidara's eyes widened as Tobi backed up clutching his head in pain.

"No! Tobi won't do it!" He yelled desperately, "Tobi won't make sempai come back if sempai doesn't want to!"

Neji and Kakashi stopped trying to fight and stared at the masked shinobi in confusion.

**That's it Tobi! Don't let Madara control you!**

_Silence fool!_

Tobi raised the kunai again shakily as if fighting against himself.

"_You must come back Deidara," _Tobi hissed, _"We need you, you cannot run!"_

Deidara stood up straight and dodged the kunai sprinting to the other side of the clearing.

Kakashi tried to see what was going on with Tobi with his sharingan but found nothing as Itachi did the same.

_What's going on?_

Itachi glared at Madara not knowing what he was going to do. Obviously his host was protesting, vehemently at that. Perhaps his vessel would be strong enough to hold him back if given the proper equipment to do so. Itachi searched his mind for every sealing technique he knew trying to find one that would work against the eldest Uchiha. There was only one he knew that could contain the monster that was Madara.

Itachi was content with knowing Sasuke would kill him, but now he couldn't count on that. The only thing that could stop Madara, while sparing the life the Uchiha host he had, was the seal that was used on the Kyuubi by the Yondaime.

Itachi made sure he had the correct hand seals in his mind and knew what he was doing. The chance of succeeding was low and if he lost he would die as well. But, he would take the chance.

Sakura watched as Tobi battled with himself and moved closer to Deidara.

"Deidara-kun," Sakura whispered, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," He huffed, "But what's up with Tobi."

"I have had time to think about it and multiple personality disorder seems to be the best fit, but I don't believe that's what it is."

Deidara furrowed him brow as Kakashi and Neji appeared at their side. Kisame and Itachi appeared on either side of Tobi, Itachi seeming to be deep in thought.

"**No, no, no, no, no!**" Tobi yelled falling to his knees.

Sakura took the chance.

"Sakura-chan!" Kakashi yelled and she shot forward with a chakra infused fist.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled as she slammed her fist into Tobi's masked face.

Tobi crashed through several trees before coming to a stop with his face lowered. He raised his head to regard the kunoichi who delivered the blow. The orange mask on his face sported a crack down the center and the left half of his mouth was revealed.

Sakura jumped back and Deidara immediately pulled her into his arms.

"Sakura-chan," He whispered, "Don't ever do something like that again."

He brought her lips to his in a passionate kiss that was interrupted by a dry laugh from across the clearing.

"_How touching,_" Madara said walking out past Kisame and Itachi.

Deidara growled in warning and fell into a defensive stance.

Kakashi had had enough.

He drew a kunai and shot towards Tobi. Tobi brought out his own kunai and deflected the blow bringing his hands together in several signs that everyone in the clearing knew all too well.

"_Katon: Gokakyou no Jutsu!_" He yelled.

Flame blew from his mouth and Kakashi jumped backwards out of the way of the fire. He did his own series of hand signs.

"Fuuton: Reppushu!"

Strong wind blew at the flames increasing their size and redirecting them back at Tobi. They seemed to engulf him but he only reappeared behind Kakashi throwing a punch at him. Kakashi dodged and fired his own series of kicks and punches towards the masked shinobi.

It became an unspoken agreement between the three Konoha shinobi and two Akatsuki that fighting would halt until Tobi and Kakashi had finished. Itachi prepared himself for what he was going to do and Kisame tried to figure out what exactly his partner was going to do.

Finally Kakashi landed a blow to Tobi's face, cracking the mask further, but was knocked down by one of Tobi's own kicks. The mask continued to crack the other half of his mouth was revealed, this side littered with scars.

Madara raised his kunai, ready to kill the Copy-nin.

_Say good-bye to your friend, you little brat!_

He ignored the pain spreading through his skull as the mask fell apart, the halves splitting and revealing the face beneath.

Kakashi froze, eyes widening, his breath caught.

Madara stopped his attack the pain became overwhelming and he dropped the kunai.

"**K-Kakashi-teme,**" He whispered brokenly, tears flowing from his lone eye on the half of his face that was covered in scars.

His other eye was simply not there. It was not gruesome, like it had been torn from him, but it looked as thought it was done through a delicate procedure by an average medic-nin. The rest of the left side of his face was unmarked. The right eye though, was clearly the Mangekyou sharingan.

Kakashi stared straight into the lone eye of the Uchiha bringing his own hand up to touch his own sharingan eye.

The Uchiha standing before him stumbled forward and fell to his knees at Kakashi's side. His crimson eye changed to a sharp onyx.

"**Kakashi-teme,**" He said, "**Please forgive me.**"

Kakashi pushed himself off the ground sitting at eye-level with the Uchiha taking the hand that rested on his own sharingan and placed it over the empty socket where the Uchiha's was supposed to be.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble this time," Kakashi said in his normal bored tone.

Finally, in a breathy sigh, he let the name pass his lips.

"Obito."

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HAHAHAHHAHAHA!! **_O_**BITO!! HA!! I'm evil aren't I? Okay yes, its O**_B_**ito, Tob**_I_** is the en**_T_**ity creating at the clashing of **_O_**bito and Madara, Madara is Tobi, Tobi **_IS_** Obito, thus by trasitive property, M**_A_**dara is Obito. They all exist in the same body. Itachi's **_G_**onna seal Madara like the Kyuubi (**_O_**r is he .?) Deidara and Sakura are g**_O_**nna live happily ever after(or are they...? **_D_**un dun dun), Kakashi get his friend **_B_**ack (or does he .?)... but wait, that doesn't leave r**_O_**om for a sequal does it? Sorry folks, you ain't gettin' such a clean happil**_Y _**ever after. Looks like you'll havta wait till the next chapter to find out, huh? REVIEW!!... I'm proud of the subliminal message in this one... R&R!!


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